Royal Research Ship
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A Royal Research Ship (RRS) is a British-operated merchant ship that conducts research for British Government scientific research organisations, notably the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). A warrant from the Queen is required before a ship can be designated as an RRS.[1]
In the 1950s and 1960s the Royal Research Ships of the day were owned by the Admiralty, partially managed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), and run as ships of that fleet. The present RRS Discovery was launched on 3 July 1962. She was designed by Henry Herdman, a scientist with the National Institute of Oceanography, working with a naval architect. The vessel was placed on display in London and subsequently used as the base design for the Royal Navy 'H' class survey ships. The new Discovery was manned by the RFA until NERC took over full responsibility for the operations and manning of the British research vessels, initially through NERC Research Vessel Services, part of NERC Scientific Services. The "fleet" was divided into two groups under this umbrella, those ships operated in Antarctica managed by British Antarctic Survey and those that operate elsewhere. This second group of ships is now operated by National Marine Facilities (NMFD), based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
Notable RRS include:
- RRS John Biscoe
- RRS Charles Darwin
- RRS Bransfield
- RRS Discovery
- RRS Discovery II
- RRS Discovery (the third RRS named Discovery - owned by NERC, managed by NMFD)
- RRS James Cook (replacement for the Charles Darwin - owned by NERC, managed by NMFD)
- RRS James Clark Ross (replacement for the John Biscoe - owned by NERC, managed by BAS)
- RRS Ernest Shackleton (replacement for the Bransfield - bareboat charter by BAS)
- RRS William Scoresby
A small number of other UK research ships are not RRS. RV Prince Madog is jointly owned by Bangor University and P&O Maritime. The Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, HMS Endurance provides science logistics support to BAS.[2]
Notes and references
- ^ "£36m contract awarded for scientific research ship" (Document). NERC press release. 2004-07-02.
{{cite document}}: Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help) - ^ "HMS Endurance - Ice Patrol Vessel". BAS. Retrieved 2008-10-14.