RRS Shackleton
Encyclopedia
Royal Research Ship
A Royal Research Ship is a British-operated merchant ship that conducts research for British Government scientific research organisations, notably the British Antarctic Survey and the Natural Environment Research Council...
operating in the Antarctic from 1955 to 1992. She is now a seismic survey vessel, MV Sea Profiler.
History
Built in 1954 by Solvesborgs Varv A/B at SölvesborgSölvesborg
Sölvesborg is a locality and the seat of Sölvesborg Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 7,883 inhabitants in 2005.Sölvesborg is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, she was launched as MV Arendal (III) for work in the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. She was purchased in 1955 by the Falkland Islands Dependency Survey (British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
from 1962). After conversion to carry more passengers, she was renamed Shackleton and sailed to the Antarctic for the 1955/56 season.
In 1957, Shackleton struck an iceberg off the South Orkney Islands
South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. They have a total area of about ....
and was nearly lost. Temporary repairs allowed the Shackleton to reach South Georgia
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands, known as the South Sandwich...
, more than 600 miles from the accident, while all unnecessary passengers and crew were rescued by the HMS Protector
HMS Protector (A146)
HMS Protector was an Antarctic patrol vessel of the Royal Navy.She was laid down as a fast net layer by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow in August 1935, launched in August 1936 and commissioned on 30 December 1936. She served in the South Atlantic and in the Norwegian Campaign during World War II...
.
At Deception Island in 1966 the Shackleton met and provisioned Bill Tilman
Bill Tilman
Major Harold William "Bill" Tilman, CBE, DSO, MC and Bar was an English mountaineer and explorer, renowned for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages.-Early years and Africa:...
's SV Mischief, the first private expedition to visit a British Antarctic base. Shackleton joined the rescue of Deception Island base members when the volcano erupted in December 1967 and again in February 1969.
In 1968 Shackleton became RRS Shackleton and was rebuilt in 1971. In 1976, while carrying Lord Shackleton
Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton
Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, KG AC OBE PC FRS , was a British geographer and Labour Party politician....
(son of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
) tasked by the British Government to carry out an economic survey of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, RRS Shackleton was fired on by the Argentine destroyer ARA Almirante Storni in a precursor to the Falklands Conflict.
After the British Antarctic Survey, she served the Natural Environment Research Council
Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
(NERC) as an oceanographic research ship and visited Antarctica on five further occasions, before being withdrawn from NERC service in 1983.
Shackleton was renamed Geotek Beta in 1983, and Profiler in 1984. She was ‘retired’ from the South Atlantic in 1992 and reconfigured for her current role as a soils and high resolution seismic survey vessel
Research vessel
A research vessel is a ship designed and equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel, others require a dedicated vessel...
, operated by Gardline Shipping Limited. They renamed her Sea Profiler in 1992.