RRS James Cook

The RRS James Cook is a British Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). She was built in 2006 to replace the ageing RRS Charles Darwin with funds from Britain's NERC and the DTI's Large Scientific Facilities Fund. She was named after Captain James Cook, the British explorer, navigator and cartographer at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton by The Princess Royal.[5]

RRS James Cook in dock at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
History
United Kingdom
Name: RRS James Cook
Namesake: James Cook
Owner: NERC Research Ship Unit
Builder: Flekkefjord Slipp & Maskinfabrikk AS, Norway. Hull built in Gdansk, Poland
Cost: £36 million
Laid down: January 2005
Christened: February 2007 by Princess Royal
Maiden voyage: 5 March 2007
Identification:
Status: in service
Notes: [1][2][3]
General characteristics
Class and type:

Lloyds +100A1, Ice 1C, FS, +LMC, UMS

DP(AM) Research Vessel
Displacement: ~5800 tonnes
Length: 89.5 m (294 ft)
Beam: 18.6 m (61 ft)
Draught: 5.5 m (18 ft) – 5.7 m (19 ft)
Installed power:
  • Wärtsilä 9L20 - 4x 1,770 kW (2,370 hp)
  • Teco Westinghouse 2x 2,500 kW (3,400 hp)
Propulsion:
  • Bow Thruster: 1,200 kW (1,600 hp) Super Silent
  • Azimuth Thruster: 1,350 kW (1,810 hp)
  • Stern Thruster 1: 600 kW (800 hp) Standard
  • Stern Thruster 2: 800 kW (1,100 hp) Super Silent
Speed: 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Crew: 9 Officers; 13 Crew & Technicians; 32 Scientists
Notes:
  • Endurance 50 days
  • [4]

On her maiden scientific voyage, on 5 March 2007, James Cook was involved in the discovery of what is believed to be the world's deepest undersea volcanic vents, while in the Caribbean.[6]

In September 2015, while on a cruise studying the seabed and marine life of the Whittard Canyon on the northern margin of the Bay of Biscay, oceanographers believe they pictured the first blue whale in English waters since the mammals were almost hunted to extinction in the north-east Atlantic.[7]

In January 2020 she left Fort Lauderdale to take part in the Go-Ship programme of scientific expeditions, studying the changes in the physical and chemical make-up of the North Atlantic as a result of anthropogenic warming. The voyage ended at Tenerife in early March.[8]

James Cook returns to Southampton following a two-week cruise testing new ROVs

See also

References
  1. "Planet Earth" (PDF). NERC. Spring 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  2. "RRS James Cook". NERC. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  3. "RRS James Cook". National Oceanography Centre. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  4. "RRS James Cook Ship Specification". rrsjamescook.com. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  5. "RRS James Cook named by HRH The Princess Royal". Natural Environment Research Council. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  6. "British scientific expedition discovers world's deepest known undersea volcanic vents". physorg.com. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  7. Morris, Steven. "Blue whale caught on camera in English waters 'for the first time'". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  8. "NOC RESEARCH EXPEDITION TO ASSESS CONTINUED ABILITY OF NORTH ATLANTIC TO MITIGATE GLOBAL HEATING". Baird Maritime. Retrieved 21 March 2020.


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