RRS ''Discovery'' was a British Royal Research Ship operated by

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

(NERC). RRS ''Discovery'' (III) was built in Aberdeen in 1962 and named after

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...

's 1901 ship, RRS ''Discovery''. Until 2006, she was the largest general purpose oceanographic research vessel in use in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Measuring 90 metres in length, and fitted with a broad range of oceanographic equipment, ''Discovery'' could also accommodate containerized laboratories. She had berths for 28 scientific staff, and the ability to spend up to 45 days at sea. Her last major overhaul was in 1991, when a new

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and power plant were installed and her hull lengthened by 10 metres. ''Discovery'' carried out

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

and marine biology research from the

National Oceanography Centre, Southampton 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 Environ ...

. She operated as part of a fleet maintained by the NERC, National Marine Facilities Division (NMFD), along with the larger RRS ''James Cook''. In February 2000, ''Discovery'' observed some of the largest

waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

, called

rogue wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave. Rogue wave may also refer to: * Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves. * Rogue Wave Software, a software company * Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...

s, up to 29.1 metres (95.5 feet), recorded by scientific instruments up to that time.Holliday, NP, MJ Yelland, RW Pascal, VR Swail, PK Taylor, CR Griffiths, and EC Kent (2006)
Were extreme waves in the Rockall Trough the largest ever recorded?
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, L05613 ''Discovery'' was scrapped at Ghent on 27 February 2013.

References

External links

Natural Environment Research Council

Skipsteknisk AS

Freire Shipyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Discovery (1962) Ships built in Aberdeen Natural Environment Research Council Research vessels of the United Kingdom 1962 ships Rogue wave incidents Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company