![]() Charles Darwin in Avonmouth Docks, being readied for a research cruise. | |
History | |
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Name | RRS Charles Darwin |
Namesake | Charles Darwin |
Owner | Natural Environment Research Council |
Operator | NERC - Research Vessel Services [1] |
Builder | Appledore Shipbuilders, North Devon [2] |
Yard number | 138 [3] |
Laid down | 1984 |
Launched | 22 February 1984 by the Prince of Wales [4] |
Out of service | June 2006 |
Homeport | London |
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Name | RV Ocean Researcher |
Owner | Gardline Shipping ltd. [5] |
Operator | Gardline Shipping Limited. |
Port of registry | Lowestoft [6] |
Acquired | 2006 |
Identification |
|
Status | in service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | DTp VII, Lloyds 100A1 [7] |
Type | Oceanography then Multi-Role Survey Vessel |
Displacement | 2,556 tonnes, fully loaded. |
Length | 69.4 m (228 ft) |
Beam | 14.4 m (47 ft) |
Draught | 4.85 m (16 ft) |
Installed power | 3 Mirrlees Blackstone MB275 diesels: 7,950 hp (5,928 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
Range | 9,240 nautical miles (17,110 km; 10,630 mi) |
Endurance | 35 days |
Complement | 39 (inc. scientific staff) |
Sensors and processing systems | Simrad EM 12S 120 and EA500 echo/sonar; multiple GPS systems; Bridgemaster ARPA C342/6 and C252/6 radar. |
The RRS Charles Darwin was a Royal Research Ship belonging to the British Natural Environment Research Council. Since 2006, she has been the geophysical survey vessel, RV Ocean Researcher,
RRS Charles Darwin was built in 1985 by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon. Named after the eminent English naturalist, she was used primarily for research in oceanography, geology, and geophysics. After 21 years of service, Charles Darwin was retired in June 2006, and replaced by the RRS James Cook. [8]
Purchased by Gardline Marine Sciences Limited of Great Yarmouth, she was renamed RV Ocean Researcher, and now conducts geophysical surveys. [9]
RRS Charles Darwin carried out 180 research cruises, worldwide, in her 21 years as a Natural Environment Research Council ship. The first cruise, in 1985, in the Northeast Atlantic, was led by Professor John Gould. Researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, studying climate change, have used RRS Charles Darwin to investigate the slowing of the Gulf Stream. Her final cruise was a geophysical survey for the British Geological Survey. [8]
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public service, undergraduate and graduate training in the world. Hundreds of ocean and Earth scientists conduct research with the aid of oceanographic research vessels and shorebased laboratories. Its Old Scripps Building is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. SIO is a division of the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The public explorations center of the institution is the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Since becoming part of the University of California in 1912, the institution has expanded its scope to include studies of the physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and climate of Earth.
A research vessel is a ship or boat designed, modified, or 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 but others require a dedicated vessel. Due to the demanding nature of the work, research vessels may be constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to operate in polar waters.
The National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) is a centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science. NOCS was created in 1995 jointly between the University of Southampton and the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is located within the port of Southampton at a purpose-built dockside campus with modern facilities. In 2010 the university and NERC components demerged, and the NERC-managed component became the National Oceanography Centre. The two components of NOCS continue close collaboration through the jointly run Graduate School, shared research facilities and laboratories, complementary research groups, and many joint research grants and publications. The university component “Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton” (OES) is part of the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, (FELS). It was ranked 46th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the QS World University Rankings in 2019.
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institution based on two sites in Southampton and Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest institution for integrated sea level science, coastal and deep ocean research and technology development.
A Royal Research Ship (RRS) is a merchant navy vessel of the United Kingdom that conducts scientific research for His 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 monarch is required before a ship can be designated as an RRS.
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The RRS James Cook is a British Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). She was built in 2006 to replace the ageing RRS Charles Darwin with funds from Britain's NERC and the DTI's Large Scientific Facilities Fund. She was named after Captain James Cook, the British explorer, navigator and cartographer at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton by The Princess Royal.
PNA Dr. Bernardo A. Houssay (MOV-1) is a ketch rigged sail training and research vessel for the Argentine Naval Prefecture. Originally named the RV Atlantis, she served as the first and main research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1931 to 1966. Several ships, including RV Atlantis (AGOR-25) and the Space ShuttleAtlantis (OV-104) were named after Atlantis. Having sailed over 1,300,000 miles to date, she is the oldest serving oceanographic research vessel in the world.
RRS Discovery was a British Royal Research Ship operated by NERC.
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RV Neil Armstrong (AGOR-27) is the designation for a new oceanographic research ship, first of the Neil Armstrong-class research vessels, to be owned by the United States Navy and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced on September 24, 2012, that the research vessel was to be named after Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon and a former naval aviator who served in the Korean War.
RRS Discovery is a Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council. The ship is the third such vessel to be built and named for the ship used by Robert Falcon Scott in his 1901-1904 expedition to the Antarctic.
R/V Ocean Starr is an American research vessel. She was in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries fleet from 1966 to 1970 as US FWS David Starr Jordan. The ship later served under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 2010.
RV Sally Ride (AGOR-28) is a Neil Armstrong-class research vessel owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The ship was named for Sally Ride, a US astronaut.
The RV Sonne is a German deep ocean research vessel. The ship became available for science in December 2014 and it operates mainly in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. She is registered in Wilhelmshaven and replaced its predecessor of the same name.
The RV MTA Turkuaz is a Turkish research and survey vessel owned by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) in Ankara. Commissioned in early 2017, she will operate in deep waters under the supervision of the Geophysical Directorate for Subsea Geophysical Exploration Division.
Boaty McBoatface is the British lead boat in a fleet of three robotic lithium battery–powered autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) of the Autosub Long Range (ALR) class. Launched in 2017 and carried on board the polar scientific research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, she is a focal point of the Polar Explorer Programme of the UK Government.
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