RRS Bransfield | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name: | RRS Bransfield |
Namesake: | Edward Bransfield |
Operator: | British Antarctic Survey |
Port of registry: | Port Stanley, Falkland Islands |
Route: | Antarctic Research and Logistics |
Builder: | Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd, Leith |
Yard number: | 508 |
Launched: | 4 September 1970 by Lady Joyce Fuchs, wife of the then Director of the Survey |
Identification: |
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Fate: | sold to GC Rieber Shipping in 1999 |
Renamed: | Igenpearl in October 1999 |
Fate: | broken up in Mumbai in 2000 [1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: |
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Type: | Ice Strengthened, steel hull |
Tonnage: | 4,816 GT, 1,577 NT |
Length: | 325 ft (99 m) |
Beam: | 60 ft (18 m) |
Draught: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
Ice class: | Lloyds 100 A1 Ice Class 1* |
Installed power: |
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Propulsion: | single variable-pitch propeller |
Speed: |
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Endurance: |
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Capacity: | 3450 m3 |
Complement: | 24 crew; 13 officers; 58 expeditioners |
Notes: | [2] [3] [4] |
RRS Bransfield was an ice-strengthened cargo vessel, purpose-built for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
RRS Bransfield was designed by consultants Graham & Woolnaugh of Liverpool for NERC, and built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd, Leith.
She was the second vessel named after Edward Bransfield RN (1785-1852), who discovered the north west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, roughly surveyed the South Shetland Islands, claiming King George Island and Clarence Island for Great Britain. Bransfield was the first man to chart part of the Antarctic mainland. [3]
An earlier wooden Norwegian sealer, built in 1918 as Veslekari, was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1943 and renamed HMS Bransfield. She was the original expedition ship for Operation Tabarin, a secret British expedition to Antarctica during World War Two. [5] Her service with Tabarin was inglorious - she proved to be unseaworthy, and was replaced before the expedition left English waters in November 1943.
In 1993/94, while in the Weddell Sea, RRS Bransfield suffered an engine room fire. [6]
In May 1999, she was sold to GC Rieber Shipping as part of the contract for the long-term charter of her replacement, RRS Ernest Shackleton. She was subsequently renamed Igenpearl, and was scrapped in Mumbai in 2000. [1]
RRS Bransfield was BAS's main supply vessel for 29 years, from 1970/71 to 1998/99. She also had limited facilities for on-board research. There was a fully equipped hospital bay on board. [4]
For much of her career her joint Masters were John Cole and Stewart Laurence. [7] [8] Bransfield represented NERC in the Review of the Fleet at Spithead in 1977, held to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee.
Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and safe natural harbour. This island is the caldera of an active volcano, which seriously damaged local scientific stations in 1967 and 1969. The island previously held a whaling station; it is now a tourist destination and scientific outpost, with Argentine and Spanish research bases. While various countries have asserted sovereignty, it is still administered under the Antarctic Treaty System.
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Operation Tabarin was a secret British Antarctic expedition, during World War II. It was launched in 1943 under the pretense of patrolling the Antarctic for German commerce raiders and U-boats that threatened Allied shipping.
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A Royal Research Ship (RRS) is a merchant navy vessel of the United Kingdom that conducts scientific research for Her Majesty's Government. Organisations operating such ships include; the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). A warrant from the Queen is required before a ship can be designated as an RRS.
James William Slessor Marr was a Scottish marine biologist and polar explorer, renowned for his role as the leader of Operation Tabarin.
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The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on behalf of the UK. It is part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). With over 400 staff, BAS takes an active role in Antarctic affairs, operating five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in both polar regions, as well as addressing key global and regional issues. This involves joint research projects with over 40 UK universities and more than 120 national and international collaborations.
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RRS Shackleton was a Royal Research Ship operating in the Antarctic from 1955 to 1992. She was then in service as a seismic survey vessel, Sea Profiler, until being scrapped in 2011.
RRS William Scoresby was British Royal Research Ship built for operations in Antarctic waters. Specially built for the Discovery Committee by Cook, Welton & Gemmell of Beverley, the ship was launched on 31 December 1925, and named after the noted 19th-century Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman. Over the next 12 years the ship made seven voyages into Antarctic waters as part of the Discovery Investigations, accompanied by the ship Discovery until 1929, and then by Discovery II. During this time she marked about 3,000 whales and completed biological, hydrographical and oceanographic studies. She also took part in the 2nd Wilkins-Hearst Antarctic Expedition in 1929-1930, launching a Lockheed Vega floatplane for flights over Antarctica.
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RRS Sir David Attenborough is a research vessel owned by the Natural Environment Research Council, to be operated by the British Antarctic Survey for the purposes of both research and logistic support. In this, the ship is intended to replace a pair of existing vessels, RRS James Clark Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton. The vessel is named after broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Antarctica in World War II covers events in Antarctica from 1939 to 1945 starting with the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938-1939). Antarctica during this period was home to multiple scientific expeditions with no documentation of fighting taking place on the continent. Many countries such as Britain, America and others sought to claim land and so sent out expedition forces with the hope that the war would hide their advances on Antarctic land.