Britain wants to Global become. To this end, the Royal Navy's flagship, the brand-new aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth... travelling halfway around the world to the east with a multinational battle group. But the focus is also on the south, albeit not quite as large-scale and media-effective. With the HMS Protector a British Navy ship will sail to the far South Atlantic and visit Antarctica for the first time since 2019. At first glance, it is only visually recognisable by the hull number (A 173) is recognisable as a naval vehicle, because with its signal red hull, white superstructure and yellow masts, it has been given the livery it deserves as a research vehicle for use in polar regions.
The ship was built in Lithuania and Norway, where it was launched in 2001 as a Polarbjørn was also put into service. Ten years later, the Royal Navy was looking for a replacement for the ice patrol ship HMS Endurance and so the "Polar Bear" became the "Protector". This charter was actually only supposed to last three years, but because the 89-metre-long ship, which displaces 5,000 tonnes, more than met the navy's expectations, the contract continues to this day.
Before the voyage, the British Admiralty had taken a look at the world map to check in which sea areas the Royal Navy could still do something for its country. Although there was nothing left to discover or conquer, the date of the last mapping of the sea around some tropical islands in the South Atlantic caught the gentlemen's eye. In some areas far from the usual shipping routes, no-one has cast a plumb line for almost 200 years! And as Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha are not only on the way to the actual area of operation, but also form the British Overseas Territory of the same name, the decision was made to make a busy stopover near the equator. After all, this remote part of the Commonwealth not only has its own currency, the St Helena pound, but also 5633 inhabitants who need to be protected.
After the North Pole, we now visit the South Pole
Once the work there has been completed, the course is set for another British territory: the British Antarctic Territory. The southernmost part of the (former) British Empire is located south of the 60th parallel and stretches between 20 and 80 degrees west. The country operates three research stations here, and they want to be visited and supplied. From December, when the temperatures in the region can be just above freezing, the seabed will also be examined here.
Just a few months ago, the Protector a guest in the Arctic. After a long period in the shipyard, during which the technology was brought up to date, the ship and crew were able to re-familiarise themselves with the conditions of the perpetual ice. If everything goes as planned, the icebreaker will receive a very rare honour. By crossing both polar circles and the equator in just one year, the ship could even make history.
Text: mb; Photo: Royal Navy/Crown Copyright
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