GRV ''James Cook'' was a

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) 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 ...

of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. It was built in 1966 as the New Zealand Sea Products Export Ltd trawler ''Sea Harvester II'' and purchased by the New Zealand government in 1969 when the company went bankrupt. The ship was renamed ''James Cook'' after

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

and used as a research vessel until 1991, when it was replaced by the RV ''Tangaroa''. From 1973 to 1991 Andrew Leachman served as first mate and then captain; he went on to captain the ''Tangaroa'' for over 20 years. ''James Cook'' was purchased by Seafresh New Zealand Ltd for use as a fishing boat but the company ceased trading soon after. The ship was in poor condition and made its last voyage under power from

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 1997. It was purchased by James Cook Shipping for use as a charter boat in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. It was stripped of most of its equipment in July 2004. It suffered damage after breaking free from its moorings in October 1998 and again in August 2007. It was also set on fire by vandals several times. The hulk was

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

in the former explosives dumping ground about southwest of

Cape Palliser Cape Palliser is a promontory on the southern coast of New Zealand's North Island and is the southernmost point of the North Island; it is in fact considerably farther south than Nelson or Blenheim in the South Island. It is located at the eas ...

on 2 December 2007.

References

External links

Video of the ''James Cook'' and ''Szap 8'' being scuttled
Greater Wellington Regional Council.
''James Cook'' being scuttled
{{DEFAULTSORT:James Cook Ships built in Trondheim Research vessels of New Zealand 1966 ships