RV ''Clione (LT421)'' was a fisheries

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 ...

that was operated by the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 30) and at that time called the Board ...

- Directorate of Fisheries, now known as the

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It carries out a wide range of research, advisory, consul ...

(Cefas) between 1961 and 1988. She was constructed by

Cochrane Shipbuilders Cochrane Shipbuilders was a shipbuilder at Selby. Due to the narrow width of the River Ouse at Selby, Cochrane launched its ships sideways into the river. History Founded by Andrew Cochrane at Beverley, England in 1884, establishing Cochrane ...

Ltd., of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

(

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

) in 1961 and operated out of the port of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

. In early 1988 the RV ''Clione'' was sold to Putford Enterprises of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

, and converted into an offshore oil rig stand-by ship. However, she was re-hired by the

in December when the Ministry's new survey vessel '' RV Corystes'' was taken out of service at short notice, requiring a change of propeller. The RV ''Clione'' was renamed as the MV ''Putford Petrel'' on 3 May 1991.Lowestoft Journal, press-cutting file - renaming of the Clione Putford Petrel, 3 May 1991, http://www.dswebhosting.info/Suffolk/SRODServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Site31&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo

%271176%2F2%2F2%2F16%2F219%27), Accessed 22/06/2018 . In 2000 the MV ''Putford Petrel'' was sold again and converted to a motor yacht. She was renamed as the ''Lynn G'' and is currently listed as being owned by the Dutch Film Unit – Lettele,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, although her whereabouts are unknown.LYNN G - 5076119 - YACHT, http://maritime-connector.com/ship/lynn-g-5076119/ , Accessed 22/06/2018

Construction

The RV ''Clione'' was commissioned in 1960 as a replacement for the earlier fisheries research vessel, the '' RV Sir Lancelot''. She was built by

Ltd. of

(yard number 1458) in

. She was launched on 22 August 1960 and sea trials began on 15 March 1961. She was registered in

on 20 March 1961 – (as LT 421). The May 1961 issue of ''The Motor Ship'', included an article describing a novel rudder design employed on the RV ''Clione''.‘The Motor Ship’, May 1961, http://www.motorship.com/news101/comment-and-analysis/historical-reviews/oil-reserves-running-out-1961-shock, Accessed 22/06/2018 It suggests that the new UK fishery research ship, the ''Clione'', had been fitted with a Pleuger active

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

for increased maneuverability and position-keeping. The German-built rudder was fitted in the conventional position, aft of the vessel's FP propeller, and built into the blade was a 100 hp AC squirrel-cage electric motor driving a small propeller. This was said to be capable of moving the ship at 5 knots on its own, but was primarily used for low-speed maneuvering.

Service as a fisheries research vessel

The RV ''Clione'' (LT421) was in service with Directorate of Fisheries from 1961 until 1988, during which time she participated in 486 separate research campaigns. In 1961–2,

Ray Beverton Raymond (Ray) John Heaphy Beverton CBE FRS (29 August 1922 – 23 July 1995) was an important founder of fisheries science. He is best known for the book ''On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations''Beverton, R. J. H., and Holt, S. J. 1957 ...

took up the investigation of

plaice Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice. Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is ...

, and together with Derek Tungate developed a high speed

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

sampler, nicknamed the ‘tin tow’ net. It was used from a re-arranged after deck on the RV ''Clione'' to carry out a series of surveys of plaice and herring eggs and larvae in the southern bight of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. June 1963 saw an attempt to see if it would be possible to establish a British tuna fishery, when the RV ''Clione'' (cruise CLI/11/1963) made an exploratory cruise off the coasts of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and Mediterranean

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. This was followed up in June 1965 (cruise CLI/8/1965) when the RV ''Clione'' made a voyage to the waters around the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, but like the earlier one it proved abortive. At the end of the 1960s, the activities of beam-trawlers in the

brought complaints from other fishermen that beam-trawls were adversely affecting stocks and the benthic food of fish. It therefore became necessary to study the effects of trawling on the sea bed. At first

scuba diver Scuba, originally SCUBA, often expanded to scuba set, is any self contained underwater breathing apparatus, a source of breathing gas used for underwater diving which is carried by the diver. Scuba may also refer to: * Scuba diving Scuba ...

s and underwater cameras were deployed from the RV ''Clione'', but eventually an ARL Scanner was fitted to RV ''Clione'' as a result of collaboration with

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

scientists at the

Admiralty Research Laboratory The Admiralty Research Laboratory (ARL) was a research laboratory that supported the work of the UK Admiralty. It was located in Teddington, London, England from 1921 to 1977. History During the First World War, the Anti-Submarine Division o ...

, Teddington. This equipment had been developed during wartime for mine-hunting purposes. It ‘illuminated’ a sector of the sea-bed with sound and so indicated its configuration. It enabled fishing gear and fish to be ‘viewed’ in three dimensions from the research vessel for the first time. Throughout its years of service the RV ''Clione'' was employed on the large-scale tagging and transplantation of

from one sandbank to ‘foreign grounds’ in the

. In 1964 (cruise CLI/2/1964) 13,000 plaice from the three principle spawning grounds were tagged and released, both locally on their ‘home grounds’ but also further afield to look at differential growth rates and migration patterns. The RV ''Clione'' was deployed on a number of surveys looking at

sandeel Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. While they are not true eels, they are eel-like in their appearance and can grow up to in length. Many species are found off the western coasts of Europe ...

populations in the

. In July 1975 she was engaged in a spawning ground survey (cruise CLI/11B/1975) using the unmanned ''ANGUS''

submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

developed by

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

, off the Northeast coast of England.CLI/11B/1975, Cruise summary report, https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/report/7588/ Accessed 22/06/2018 On 27 July 1984 the ''Lowestoft Journal'' featured an article under the title ''"request for new research vessel to replace aging `Clione’"''.Lowestoft Journal, press-cutting file - http://www.dswebhosting.info/Suffolk/SRODServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Site31&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27clione%27%29, Accessed 22/06/2018 . This was followed on 30 January 1987 with an ''"advert for sale by open tender of research vessel `Clione`, LT 421"''. Finally, on 6 February 1987 the ''Lowestoft Journal'' featured an article under the title – ''"26-year-old research vessel `Clione` up for sale as new replacement `Corystes` in last stages of sea trials"''. In early 1988 the RV ''Clione'' was sold to Putford Enterprises of

. The RV ''Clione'' was re-hired by the

in December 1988 to carry out surveys at the Hastings Shingle Bank, sewage sludge dump sites off

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and aggregate extraction sites off the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, using side scan sonar, epibenthic dredges and underwater photography. This was necessary when the Ministry's existing survey vessel RV Corystes was taken out of service at short notice, requiring a change of propeller.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clione 1960 ships Ships of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Research vessels of the United Kingdom

Construction

Service as a fisheries research vessel

See also

References