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HMNZS Endeavour (1956)
Encyclopedia
HMNZS Endeavour was a Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
support vessel that made five voyages to the Antarctic. She was the first of three ships in the Royal New Zealand Navy to bear that name.
The ship was built in the United States in 1944 as Satinwood (YN-89) as a net tender of the (but later redesignated as AN-76, a net layer) and transferred to the 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...
under Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
in August 1944. Commissioned as HMS Pretext (Z284), she served the United Kingdom until she was returned to United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
custody in November 1945. Sold by the United States Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
in 1947, she served as a research vessel for the government of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
under the name RRS John Biscoe, and as RRS Pretext when another ship was assigned the John Biscoe name. She was purchased by the Royal New Zealand Navy, renamed Endeavour, and employed in support missions to Antarctica. Sold again in 1962, the ship—renamed Arctic Endeavour for sealing work in the northern hemisphere—foundered off the coast of Canada in November 1982
Second World War
The ship was laid down as Satinwood (YN-89), a net tender of the , on 1 May 1943 at the American Car and Foundry Co. in Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
. On 17 January 1944, while still under construction, the ship was reclassified as a net laying ship and redesignated AN-76. Satinwood was launched on 23 May and completed on 5 August.
After delivery to the U.S. Navy on 5 August, she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease the same day and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Pretext (Z284). Upon completion of wartime duty with the United Kingdom, she was returned to the U.S. Navy on 22 November 1945 at Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 28 March 1946, she was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
and sold on 20 July 1947.
Postwar career
She was purchased by the government of the Falkland IslandsFalkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, converted to a research vessel and renamed John Biscoe. At the time, she was extensively refitted for ice conditions, including having her hull sheathed in 3 inches (7.6 cm) of greenheart timber. She made a number of summer voyages to the Antarctic to relieve the stations manned by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. However a ship with a longer range and greater cargo-carrying capacity was required, and the ship's name was returned to Pretext in 1956 to free the name John Biscoe for a new vessel.
Captain Harry Kirkwood had commanded her as the John Biscoe and, when asked to recommend a ship for the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The 1955–58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole...
to take the New Zealand party to the Ross Dependency
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...
, he recommended this ship to the Ross Sea Committee. She was sold to the Royal New Zealand Navy in June 1956 and commissioned as HMNZS Endeavour. She was named after Captain Cook's
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
Bark Endeavour
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
and was the first of three ships in the Royal New Zealand Navy to carry that name, although if earlier continuity with the Royal Navy is considered, she was the tenth. It appears that no pendant number was assigned to her.
In June 1962 she was sold again, renamed the Arctic Endeavour and fitted out for sealing work in the Arctic. She foundered off Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
on 11 November 1982.
Sources
See also
- Logistic ships of the Royal New Zealand NavyLogistic ships of the Royal New Zealand NavyCommissioned logistic and support vessels of the Royal New Zealand Navy from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present: -See also:* Current Royal New Zealand Navy ships* List of ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy-References:...