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Calypso (ship)
Encyclopedia
RV Calypso is a former British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
converted into a research vessel
Research vessel
A research vessel is a ship designed and 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, others require a dedicated vessel...
for the oceanographic
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
researcher Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
, equipped with a mobile laboratory for underwater field research. She was severely damaged in 1996, and is undergoing a complete refurbishment in 2009-2011. The ship is named after the Greek mythological figure Calypso
Calypso (mythology)
Calypso was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained Odysseus for a number of years. She is generally said to be the daughter of the Titan Atlas....
.
World War II British Minesweeper (1941–1947)
Calypso was originally a wooden-hulled minesweeperMinesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
built for the British Royal Navy by the Ballard Marine Railway Company of Seattle, Washington, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was made from Oregon pine.
It was a BYMS (British Yard Minesweeper) Mark 1 Class Motor Minesweeper
BYMS class minesweeper
The BYMS class was a class of wooden motor minesweepers, part of the US Navy YMS Yard class minesweepers. 150 ships destined for UK were launched from 1941 to 1943....
, laid down on 12 August 1941 with the yard designation BYMS-26 and launched on 21 March 1942. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1943 as HMS J-826 and assigned to active service in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, reclassified as BYMS-2026 in 1944, laid up at Malta and finally struck from the Naval Register in 1947.
Maltese Ferry (1947–1950)
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
she became a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
between Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and the island of Gozo, and was renamed after the nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
Calypso
Calypso (mythology)
Calypso was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained Odysseus for a number of years. She is generally said to be the daughter of the Titan Atlas....
, whose island of Ogygia
Ogygia
Ogygia , is an island mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. In Homer's Odyssey Calypso detained Odysseus on Ogygia for 7 years and kept him from returning to his home of Ithaca, wanting to...
was mythically associated with Gozo.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau's Calypso (1950–1997)
The Irish millionaire and former MPMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Thomas "Loel" Guinness bought Calypso in 1950 and leased her to Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year. He had two conditions, that Cousteau never ask him for money and that he never reveal his identity, which only came out after Cousteau's death. Cousteau restructured and transformed her into an expedition vessel and support base for diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, filming and oceanographic research.
Calypso carried advanced equipment, including one- and two-man mini submarines developed by Cousteau, diving saucers, and underwater scooters
Diver Propulsion Vehicle
A diver propulsion vehicle is an item of diving equipment used by scuba and rebreather divers to increase range underwater...
. The ship was also fitted with a see-through "nose", an observation chamber three meters below the waterline, and was modified to house scientific equipment and a helicopter pad. The Calypso underwater camera
Calypso (camera)
The self-contained amphibious underwater Calypso 35mm film camera was conceived by the marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau , designed by Jean de Wouters and manufactured by Atoms in France. It was distributed by La Spirotechnique in Paris from 1960 to 1962. The camera operates down to 200 feet /...
is named after this ship.
Calypso sinking (1996) & death of Cousteau (1997)
On 8 January 1996, a bargeBarge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
accidentally rammed Calypso and sank her in the port of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. On 16 January, she was raised by a 230-foot crane, patched and pumped dry before being put in shipyard.
The next year, Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on 25 June 1997.
Restoration (1997–Present)
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
in 1998, where she was intended to be an exhibit.
A long series of legal and other delays kept any restoration work from beginning. Francine Cousteau
Francine Cousteau
Francine Triplet Cousteau is the current president of the non-profit organization Cousteau Society. Francine Cousteau is the widow of the famous oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who died in 1997. Francine is the mother of Jacques Cousteau's third and fourth children...
managed to organize the ship's restoration. A dispute arose between Francine Cousteau, the widow of Jacques Cousteau, and Loel Guinness, grandson of the original purchaser.
When this dispute was discovered by the sponsoring Mayor of La Rochelle, it added to the air of uncertainty and hesitancy over funding the restoration. When the mayor subsequently died, the city of La Rochelle withdrew as a source of funding for the restoration. Calypso remained in disrepair.
In 2002, Alexandra, Cousteau's granddaughter from his first marriage, stepped in to help organize restoration. Yet the Cousteau Society, controlled by Francine Cousteau, reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend Francine's exclusive use of the name, and to prevent Alexandra's participation in the restoration of Calypso.
In July 2003, Patrick Schnepp, director of the La Rochelle maritime museum, expressed his frustration at the inability to restore the ship to fit condition: "The whole affair disgusts me... Everything that's not broken is rotten, and everything that's not rotten is broken." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that he desired to see the ship towed off the Ile de Ré
Île de Ré
Île de Ré is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....
and scuttled, as Jacques-Yves Cousteau had envisioned would have been the ship's original fate had he not been granted its use.
On 30 November 2004 it was erroneously reported Calypso had been sold by Loel Guinness, to Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
. Carnival stated they intended to give the vessel a 1.3 million dollar (1 million euro) restoration, and then likely moor her in the Bahamas as a museum ship
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
.
In late 2006, Loel Guinness
Loel Guinness
Group Captain Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness OBE was a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for Bath , business magnate and philanthropist...
transferred ownership of "Calypso" to the Cousteau Society for the symbolic sum of one Euro. The transfer was part of a plan of restoration led by Francine Cousteau
Francine Cousteau
Francine Triplet Cousteau is the current president of the non-profit organization Cousteau Society. Francine Cousteau is the widow of the famous oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who died in 1997. Francine is the mother of Jacques Cousteau's third and fourth children...
. A legal battle regarding ownership of the vessel ensued which was resolved in favor of the [Cousteau Society] in October 2007. The restoration project then resumed.
On 4 October 2008, Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen produced a new luxury chronograph, which will be sold to raise proceeds for the restoration of Calypso.
On 11 October 2007, the transfer of the ship to Concarneau
Concarneau
Concarneau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding...
started, where she will be restored at the Piriou Shipyard and transformed into a permanent exhibit.
Restoration work on the Calypso stopped in February 2009 due to non-payment of bills by Francine Cousteau. Piriou Naval Services of Concarneau
Concarneau
Concarneau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding...
are owed €850 000, of the estimated total €1 737 000, for work already done on the ship. The ship is now stored in one of the ship builder's hangars.
As of March 2009 the Cousteau Society reports that Francine Cousteau is now directing the restoration of Calypso—which has been brought to the Piriou shipyards in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
—as an "ambassador for the seas and oceans". The restoration will be a complete refurbishment making Calypso a self-powered mobile "ambassador".
In June 2010 the BBC reported that the Calypso was to be relaunched to mark the centenary of Jacques Cousteau's birth. According to one of the ship's former crew who visited the shipyard, the vessel was still being stored in several pieces in the same hangar as of 11 June 2010 - the official date of the centenary - and is unlikely to sail any time soon.
The Calypso in popular culture
- Calypso was featured in The Silent WorldThe Silent WorldThe Silent World is a 1956 French documentary film co-directed by the famed French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and a young Louis Malle. The Silent World is noted as one of the first films to use underwater cinematography to show the ocean depths in color...
, the 1956 film awarded the Academy Award for Documentary FeatureAcademy Award for Documentary FeatureThe Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
, and the 1956 Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
. - The ship was also featured in the 1964 film World Without SunWorld Without SunWorld Without Sun is a 1964 French documentary film directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The film was Cousteau's second to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, following The Silent World in 1956.-Plot:...
(Le Monde sans Soleil), which also won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. - John DenverJohn DenverHenry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
wrote a 1975 hit song "CalypsoCalypso (song)"Calypso" is a song written by John Denver in 1975 as a tribute to Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his research ship Calypso. The song was featured on Denver's 1975 album Windsong....
" as a tribute to Calypso and her crew. - Jean Michel JarreJean Michel JarreJean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
wrote a four-part composition in tribute to the ship, called Waiting for CousteauWaiting for CousteauWaiting for Cousteau is the seventh overall studio album by Jean Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in 1990. The album was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau and was released on his 80th birthday 11 June 1990. The title of the album is a reference to Samuel Beckett's...
(1990). - GWARGWARGwar is a satirical heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, United States, in 1984. The band is best known for its elaborate science fiction/horror film inspired costumes, obscene lyrics and graphic stage performances, which feature humorous enactments of politically and morally taboo...
wrote a song entitled "Je M'Appelle J. Cousteau", which was featured on their album Hell-OHell-OHell-o! is the debut album by Gwar. The album was released in 1988, on Shimmy Disc Records.Gwar's angle on the album is that of a morbid punk band obsessed with debauchery, violence and toilet humor...
, originally released in 1988. It's not entirely clear whether this song is in tribute or slander, but the song is entirely about Jacques Cousteau and his ship the Calypso. - The Captain's yacht of the USS Enterprise-D, on Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, was named Calypso by actor Patrick StewartPatrick StewartSir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
. He also gave the name Cousteau to the Captain's yacht of the USS Enterprise-E in homage to the Calypsos famous former Captain. - Bill MurrayBill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
starred in a film parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Jacques Cousteau's life called The Life Aquatic with Steve ZissouThe Life Aquatic with Steve ZissouThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is an American comedy-drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Wes Anderson. It is Anderson's fourth feature length film, released in the U.S. on December 25, 2004...
. In the movie, Zissou travels the seas in a ship called the Belafonte. This is an oblique reference to Jacques Cousteau's ship Calypso. Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
is a noted musician who played calypso musicCalypso musicCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
on an album called CalypsoCalypso (album)Calypso is the 3rd album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in 1956. The CD was released on April 28, 1992 . It is the first full-length gramophone LP to sell over one million copies...
. Not unlike the Calypso, the Belafonte is an ex-Royal Navy Ton-class minesweeperHMS Packington (M1214)HMS Packington was a built by Harland & Wolff. On 20 September 1959 she was sold to the South African Navy and renamed the SAS Walvisbaai. She was retired in March 2001 and sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2003 to be used as the R/V Belafonte in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve...
.
See also
- AlcyoneAlcyone (ship)The Alcyone is a ship operated by the Cousteau Society. It was created as an expedition ship and to test the operation of a new kind of marine propulsion system, the turbosail. The Alcyone is equipped with two of these unusual sails, which are used to augment its diesel engines...
for Cousteau's experimental turbosail ship. - HMS CalypsoHMS CalypsoThe following ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name of HMS Calypso, after Calypso, a sea nymph in Greek mythology:*HMS Calypso , a 16-gun sloop of 342 tons burthen bm, launched at Graves, Deptford 27 September 1783...
for the Royal Navy ships of the same name.
External links
- Calypso page from the Cousteau Society.
- BYMS-26
- WWII Construction Records Yard Minesweepers (YMS)
- Miquel Pontes - "El Calypso: Historia de un mito" in Aquanet 67, 2005 http://marenostrum.org/download/aquanet/2005/aquanet-67.pdf (.PDF file)
- Rotary Club of La Rochelle page on Calypso (in French)
- Chantiers Piriou, restoration of the Calypso