Navy

HMS Protector Completes Historic Patrol With Poignant Visit

The Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship has just completed a historic five-week visit to the East Antarctic and Ross Sea.

HMS Protector is the first Royal Navy, or UK government, vessel to have journeyed to the region in 80 years, or to have travelled so far south, having dipped below 77 degrees latitude.

Her mission has been to support the work of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in protecting the unique Antarctic eco-system through close co-operation with Australia and New Zealand.

HMS Protector Completes Historic Patrol — An Adelie penguin and HMS Protector in Cape Evans.

During her patrol Protector inspected a number of fishing vessels to ensure they adhere to the strict licensing regulations in the area.

The UK is a founding signatory of the Antarctic Treaty and takes its responsibilities in the region very seriously – determined to uphold the key tenets of the Treaty of protecting the environment and preserving the area for scientific research.

The British explorers, Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton commenced their epic journeys from the Ross Sea including Scott’s fateful final expedition in 1911/12.

In honour of Scott, Shackleton, and the men they led, many of Protector’s ship’s company visited the huts they used as their base stations.

Protector’s ship’s company were granted permission to visit Scott’s hut at Cape Evans by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust.

The embarked New Zealand Defence Force liaison officer, Lt Cdr Hickey, acted as guide for the visit and the sailors got to witness a scene that had been untouched in years.

Fur boots and skis lay where they had been left, the wooden bunks still have their sleeping bags and clothes were hung over stoves, as if drying in the warmth.

It was there that Protector’s chaplain, Rev Andrew Allcock, held a remembrance service in memory of those who died during their return journey from the Pole.

Lieutenant Kate Retallick, operations officer 2, said: “It was a very poignant service outside Captain Scott’s hut for all of us. It is humbling to think of what they went through in the name of discovery.”

After the visit to Scott’s hut the ship went on to pay respect to Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team – 15 miles to the north, another visit facilitated by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust.