MV ''Alert'' was a vessel launched in 1942 and originally constructed in

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

as a harbour defence vessel. ''Alert'' arrived in New Zealand as a result of the American

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

scheme and was based in

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 ...

. After World War II she was laid up in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. In 1946 Alexander J. Black purchased the vessel, overhauled her and then based her at

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, where she was used in multiple research expeditions including the

1954 Chatham Islands expedition The 1954 Chatham Islands expedition was a research expedition organised by George Knox of the University of Canterbury to explore the distribution of benthic and pelagic marine fauna living between the Chatham Islands / Rēkohu and the eastern ...

References

1942 ships Research vessels of New Zealand {{Ship-stub