The RRS Discovery was the last wooden three-masted ship to be built in the British Isles, and was launched on 21 March 1901, designed for Antarctic research. Location of the North-West European Archipelago. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ...

Her first mission was to carry Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, remarkably successful journey to the Antarctic, otherwise known as the National Antarctic Expedition. Robert Falcon Scott Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – 29 March 1912) was a Royal Naval officer and Antarctic explorer. ... Portrait of Ernest Henry Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO, OBE (February 15, 1874 – January 5, 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer, now chiefly remembered for his Antarctic expedition of 1914–1916 in the ship Endurance. ...

The Space Shuttle Discovery is named after the RRS Discovery. Discovery prior to docking with the International Space Station. ...

History

On 16 March 1900, construction on the Discovery began in Dundee, Scotland, by the Dundee Shipbuilders Company. She was launched into the Firth of Tay on 21 March 1901 by Lady Markham, the wife of Clements Markham. March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... For other uses see Dundee (disambiguation) Dundee is Scotlands fourth largest city, population 154 674 (2001), situated on the North bank of the Firth of Tay. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The Firth of Tay is a firth in Scotland between the regions of Fife and City of Dundee into to which Scotlands largest river in terms of flow, the River Tay empties. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Sir Clements Robert Markham (20 July 1830 – 1916) was a British explorer, author and geographer. ...

Discovery had coal-fired auxiliary steam engines, but had to rely primarily on sail because the coal bunkers did not have sufficient capacity to take the ship on long voyages. She was rigged as a barque. According to Shackleton, the ship was a bad sailer, and carried too much sail aft and not enough forward; while Scott worried that the design of the ship's hull was unsuitable for work in pack ice. Coal (previously referred to as pitcoal or seacoal) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... A sail is any type of surface intended to generate thrust by being placed in a wind —in essence a vertically-oriented wing. ... The word barc appears to have come from Celtic languages so that the form adopted by English, perhaps from Irish, was bark while that adopted by French , perhaps from Gaulish, was barge. ... The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the smaller of the two education labor unions in the United States, representing 1. ... A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... An icebreaker navigates some through young (1 year) sea ice Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. ...

The Mission begins

RRS Discovery, in Antarctica.

Five months after setting sail on 6 August 1901 from the Isle of Wight, she sighted the Antarctic coastline on 8 January 1902. During the first month Scott began charting the coastline. Then, in preparation for the winter, he weighed anchor in McMurdo Sound. Unfortunately, this was where the ship would remain, locked in ice, for the next two years; the Expedition had expected to spend the Winter there and move on in the Spring. Despite this, the Expedition was able to determine that Antarctica was indeed a continent, and they were able to relocate the Southern Magnetic Pole. Scott, Shackleton and Edward Wilson also achieved a Furthest South of 82 degrees 18 minutes. The ship was eventually freed on 16 February 1904, by the natural break up of the ice followed by the use of controlled explosives. RRS Discovery finally sailed for home, arriving back at Spithead on 10 September 1904. This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Antarctica (disambiguation). ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: Antarctica geography stubs | Geography of Antarctica | Ross Dependency ... Edward Adrian Wilson (Uncle Bill) (July 23, 1872 - March 29, 1912) was an English polar explorer, physician, naturalist and ornithologist. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Cargo Vessel

The National Antarctic Expedition was acclaimed upon its return but was also in serious financial trouble, and so in 1905, Discovery was sold to the Hudson's Bay Company, who used her as a cargo vessel between London and Hudson Bay, Canada until the First World War, when she began carrying munitions to Russia. Later, in 1917, she carried supplies to the White Russians during the Russian Civil War. At the end of the hostilities Discovery was chartered by various companies for work in the Atlantic, but outdated and outclassed by more modern merchant vessels she was soon laid up, spending the early 1920s as the headquarters of the 16th Stepney Sea Scouts. 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC. TSX: HBC) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Hudson Bay, Canada. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The White movement, whose military arm is known as the White Army (Белая Армия) or White Guard (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as Whites (Белые, or the derogatory Беляки) or White Russians (a term which has other meanings) comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the... The Russian Civil War was fought from 1918 to 1922. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Social issues of the 1920s. ... Stepney is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... Sea Scouts are members of the international Scouting movement, with a particular emphasis on water-based activities. ...

Renewed Research

In 1923 her fortunes were revived when the Crown Agents for the Colonies purchased her for further research work in the Antarctic. Re-registered to Port Stanley in the Falklands and designated as a Royal Research Ship, Discovery underwent a £114,000 re-fit before sailing in October 1925 for the South Seas to chart the migration patterns of whale stocks. Her research role continued when the British Government lent her in 1929, to the B.A.N.Z.A.R.E. (British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Expeditions) expeditions, lasting until 1931. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

Boy Scouts

Returning to Britain, her research days now over, Discovery was laid up until 1936 when she was presented to the Boy Scouts Association as a training ship for Sea Scouts. During the war her engines and boilers were removed for scrap to help with the war effort. Too costly for the Scouts Association to maintain she was transferred to the Admiralty in 1955 for use as a drill ship for the Royal Navy Auxiliary Reserve. As the years passed her condition deteriorated and when no longer of use to the Navy, she was in danger of being scrapped. Saved from the breakers yard by the Maritime Trust, into whose care she passed in 1979, her future had been secured. Berthed on the River Thames and open to the public, the trust spent some £500,000 on essential restoration until she was passed into the ownership of the Dundee Heritage Trust in 1985. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Scouts and Guides from different countries on World Scout Moot 1996 Scouting is a worldwide youth organization. ... A school ship is a ship used for the training of students as sailors. ... Sea Scouts are members of the international Scouting movement, with a particular emphasis on water-based activities. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Maritime Trust is a Registered Charity in the UK, at 2 Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9BG. It was founded in founded in 1969 and amalgamated with the Cutty Sark Society in 1989, and has a remit is to restore, preserve and display to the public historic British ships. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... The Thames (pronounced []) is a river flowing through southern England and connecting London with the sea. ... This article is about the year. ...

Voyage Home

RRS Discovery, in Dundee.

On 28 March 1986 Discovery left London aboard the cargo ship Happy Mariner to make her only journey home to the town that built her, arriving on the river Tay on 3 April to a tumultuous welcome. Moved to a custom built dock in 1992, Discovery is now the centrepiece of Dundee's visitor attraction Discovery Point. The city also markets itself as The City of Discovery, in honor of the RRS Discovery. Image File history File linksMetadata RRS_Discovery. ... Image File history File linksMetadata RRS_Discovery. ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship that carries goods and materials from one port to another. ... Tay can refer to any of the following: The Tay is a river in the highlands of Scotland. ... April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Dundee (Gaelic: Dùn Dèagh) is a royal burgh and the fourth largest city in Scotland. ...

A New Generation is Born

RRS Discovery II which herself was built in 1929.

The spaceship Discovery One in Arthur C. Clarke's book 2001:A Space Odyssey was named by Clarke after the RRS Discovery; Clarke used to eat his lunch aboard her, as she was moored near the office where he worked in London. According to Clarke, he was unaware that RRS Discovery was launched in 1901, so the fact that she was celebrating her centenary in the year of his book is a coincidence. Discovery One is a fictional spacecraft shown in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Sir Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (born December 16, 1917) is a British author and inventor, most famous for his science-fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film of the same name. ...

Modern Research

The modern Royal Research Ship Discovery, built in 1962, is the largest general purpose oceanographic research vessel currently in use in the United Kingdom. Operating alongside the RRS Charles Darwin she is the largest vessel in a fleet maintained by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Research Ship Unit (RSU). 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Photos of RRS Charles Darwin at the end of a research cruise in August 2005. ... NERC logo The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council. ...

Measuring 90 metres in length, and fitted with a broad range of oceanographic equipment, Discovery can also accommodate containerised laboratories, with berths available for 28 scientific staff, and has the ability to spend up to 45 days at sea. Her last major overhaul was in 1992, when a new superstructure and power plant were installed and her hull lengthened by 10 metres. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... // Sociological concept In social sciences, superstructure is the set of socio-psychological feedback loops that maintain a coherent and meaningful structure in a given society, or part thereof. ...

See also

Discovery Expedition Discovery Expedition (1901 - 1904) Robert Falcon Scott headed this Antarctica expedition, spending two winters on Ross Island and treks to the South Pole. ...

External links

• Discovery Point Antarctic Museum
• NERC Research Ship Unit

References

• Huntford, Roland: Shackleton. ISBN 0-689-11429-X.