RRS Shackleton

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title: "RRS Shackleton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["icebreakers-of-the-united-kingdom", "research-vessels-of-the-united-kingdom", "ships-built-in-blekinge-county", "1954-ships"] description: "British Antarctic research vessel" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRS_Shackleton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British Antarctic research vessel ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	"Sea Profiler" awaiting demolition at New Holland - geograph.org.uk - 2652425.jpg
image_caption	Sea Profiler awaiting scrapping in 2011
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	United Kingdom
flag	[[File:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
name	RRS Shackleton
namesake	Ernest Shackleton
operator	Falkland Islands Dependency Survey / British Antarctic Survey / NERC
builder	Solvesborgs Varv A/B at Sölvesborg, Sweden
yard_number	41
launched	11 November 1954
completed	February 1955
acquired	1955
in_service	1955
out_of_service	1992
refit	1971
section3	{{Infobox ship/career
hide_header	title
country	Panama
flag	[[File:Flag of Panama.svg
name	MV Sea Profiler
operator	Gardline Shipping Limited., Great Yarmouth
acquired	1992
identification	*
fate	Scrapped in 2011
section4	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
type	Research ship
tonnage
length	65.78 m
beam	11.08 m
draught	4.66 m
propulsion	MAN 6-cylinder diesel, 785 BHP at 275 RPM, Kamena reversible pitch propeller
speed	*9.7 kn (maximum)
* (average){{cite web	url
endurance	28 days
complement	31 berths
notes
::

::callout[type=note] the Royal Research Ship built in 1954 ::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image="Sea Profiler" awaiting demolition at New Holland - geograph.org.uk - 2652425.jpg |image_caption=Sea Profiler awaiting scrapping in 2011

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United Kingdom |flag=[[File:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px]] |name=RRS Shackleton |namesake=Ernest Shackleton |owner= |operator=Falkland Islands Dependency Survey / British Antarctic Survey / NERC |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder=Solvesborgs Varv A/B at Sölvesborg, Sweden |original_cost= |yard_number=41 |way_number= |laid_down= |launched=11 November 1954 |sponsor= |christened= |completed=February 1955 |acquired=1955 |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= |in_service=1955 |out_of_service=1992 |renamed= |reclassified= |refit=1971 |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate= |notes= |badge=

|section3={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=Panama |flag=[[File:Flag of Panama.svg|60px]] |name=MV Sea Profiler |namesake= |owner= |operator=Gardline Shipping Limited., Great Yarmouth |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=1992 |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification=*

• Callsign: HP6791 |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Scrapped in 2011 |notes= |badge=

|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type=Research ship |tonnage= |displacement= |length=65.78 m |beam=11.08 m |height= |draught=4.66 m |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion=MAN 6-cylinder diesel, 785 BHP at 275 RPM, Kamena reversible pitch propeller |speed=*9.7 kn (maximum)

• 7.8 kn (average) |range= |endurance=28 days |boats= |capacity= |complement=31 berths |crew= |time_to_activate= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= '*RRS Shackleton''' was a Royal Research Ship operated by the British scientific research organisations the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in the Antarctic from 1955 to 1983. She was subsequently operated as a seismic survey vessel under the names Geotek Beta, Profiler and finally *Sea Profiler'' before being scrapped in 2011.

History

Built in 1954 by Sölvesborgs Varv A/B at Sölvesborg, Sweden, she was launched as MV Arendal (III) for work in the Baltic. She was purchased in 1955 by the Falkland Islands Dependency Survey (FIDS. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) from 1962) as a supply vessel to re-stock British research stations. After conversion to carry more passengers, she was renamed RRS Shackleton and sailed to the Antarctic for the 1955/56 season.

On 29 Nov 1957 Shackleton, having completed the relief of the FIDS research station on Signy Island, was seriously damaged when she hit an iceberg off Coronation Island and was holed in two places below the waterline. The ship started to take on water and was almost lost. Temporary repairs allowed the vessel to reach the whaling station of Stromness on South Georgia, more than 500 miles from the accident, where the hull was repaired. She was met en-route by HMS Protector, which provided an additional pump and shipwrights to help contain the damage and took off scientists and other passengers.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/1963stampShackletonBAT.jpg" caption="1963 [[British Antarctic Territory]] stamp featuring ''Shackleton''"] ::

From 1959 scientists from Birmingham University's Sub-department of Geophysics regularly undertook research from Shackleton, focusing on the marine geophysics of the Scotia Arc. This included two-ship seismic refraction experiments working with HMS Protector, sonobuoy work and magnetic surveys.

At Deception Island in 1966 the Shackleton met and provisioned Bill Tilman'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. She was withdrawn from service by BAS at the end of the 1968/69 season. following a decision to replace her with a new vessel.

Shackleton was operated by the NERC after 1969, and underwent major conversion to fit her as a oceanographic research ship, starting in November 1970 at the shipyard of James Lamont, Greenock. Construction work was completed in 1971 and her first Antarctic cruise with NERC was in 1971/72, continuing geophysical and marine geology work on the Scotia Arc. On 4 February 1976, while taking part in a British economic survey of the Falkland Islands led by Lord Shackleton (son of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton), RRS Shackleton was fired on by the Argentine destroyer ARA Almirante Storni in a precursor to the Falklands Conflict. She was withdrawn from service in May 1983 and sold. During her service with NERC the ship carried out cruises in the Antarctic, Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

Shackleton was renamed Geotek Beta in 1983. In 1984 she was purchased by Gardline Shipping Limited and renamed Profiler. She was 'retired' from the South Atlantic in 1989 and reconfigured as a soils and high resolution seismic survey vessel, operated by Gardline Shipping Limited. They renamed her Sea Profiler in 1992. She was scrapped in New Holland on the Humber estuary in 2011.

References

Sources

References

1. {{csr
2. "CARGO VESSEL: End of the road". Kelsey Publishing Ltd.
3. (May 1956). "Royal Research Ship ''Shackleton''". Scott Polar Research Institute.
4. (April 2018). "MV Sea Profiler". Marine Traffic.com.
5. "MV Sea Profiler". Gardline Marine Sciences.
6. "Fleet over the years". Arendals Dampskibsselskab.
7. Fuchs (1982) page 142
8. Fuchs (1982) pages 188-90
9. Woodfield (2016) pages 69-71
10. Woodfield (2016) pages 74-78
11. [https://www.nytimes.com/1957/12/02/archives/antarctic-ship-aided-scientists-taken-off-british-vessel-damaged-by.html "Antarctic Ship Aided; Scientists Taken Off British Vessel Damaged by Floe "], ''The New York Times''. 2 December 1957. Page 6. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
12. BAS Annual Report (1968) page 84
13. Fuchs (1982) page 287
14. Fuchs (1982) pages 291-92
15. BAS Annual Report 1968-69 p1
16. BAS Annual Report 1968-69 p122
17. NERC Annual Report 1970-71 p62
18. NERC Annual Report 1971-72 p107
19. "RRS Shackleton".
20. "MV Sea Profiler". Gardline Marine Sciences.
21. (5 February 1976). "Falkland Islands (RRS "Shackleton")".
22. NERC Annual Report 1983-84 p82
23. NERC Annual Report 1982-83 p78

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::