RV ''Clione (LT421)'' was a fisheries research vessel that was operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) - Directorate of Fisheries, now known as the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) between 1961 and 1988. She was constructed by

Cochrane Shipbuilders Cochrane Shipbuilders was a shipbuilder at Selby. History Founded by Andrew Cochrane at Beverley, England in 1884, establishing Cochrane & Sons in 1896. The ship building company moved to Selby in 1898. During the Second World War the company was ...

Ltd., of Selby ( Yorkshire) in 1961 and operated out of the port of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

. In early 1988 the RV ''Clione'' was sold to Putford Enterprises of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, and converted into an offshore oil rig stand-by ship. However, she was re-hired by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) in December when the Ministry's new survey vessel '' RV Corystes'' was taken out of service at short notice, requiring a change of propeller. The RV ''Clione'' was renamed as the MV ''Putford Petrel'' on 3 May 1991.Lowestoft Journal, press-cutting file - renaming of the Clione Putford Petrel, 3 May 1991, http://www.dswebhosting.info/Suffolk/SRODServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Site31&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo

%271176%2F2%2F2%2F16%2F219%27), Accessed 22/06/2018 . In 2000 the MV ''Putford Petrel'' was sold again and converted to a motor yacht. She was renamed as the ''Lynn G'' and is currently listed as being owned by the Dutch Film Unit – Lettele, Netherlands, although her whereabouts are unknown.LYNN G - 5076119 - YACHT, http://maritime-connector.com/ship/lynn-g-5076119/, Accessed 22/06/2018

Construction

The RV ''Clione'' was commissioned in 1960 as a replacement for the earlier fisheries research vessel, the '' RV Sir Lancelot''. She was built by

Ltd. of Selby (yard number 1458) in Yorkshire. She was launched on 22 August 1960 and sea trials began on 15 March 1961. She was registered in

on 20 March 1961 – (as LT 421).Clione - steel motor research ship, registration LT 421, https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/collections/getrecord/GB175_1448_6_8_20, Accessed 22/06/2018 The May 1961 issue of ''The Motor Ship'', included an article describing a novel rudder design employed on the RV ''Clione''.‘The Motor Ship’, May 1961, http://www.motorship.com/news101/comment-and-analysis/historical-reviews/oil-reserves-running-out-1961-shock, Accessed 22/06/2018 It suggests that the new UK fishery research ship, the ''Clione'', had been fitted with a Pleuger active rudder for increased maneuverability and position-keeping. The German-built rudder was fitted in the conventional position, aft of the vessel's FP propeller, and built into the blade was a 100 hp AC squirrel-cage electric motor driving a small propeller. This was said to be capable of moving the ship at 5 knots on its own, but was primarily used for low-speed maneuvering.

Service as a fisheries research vessel

The RV ''Clione'' (LT421) was in service with Directorate of Fisheries from 1961 until 1988, during which time she participated in 486 separate research campaigns. In 1961–2, Ray Beverton took up the investigation of plaice, and together with Derek Tungate developed a high speed plankton sampler, nicknamed the ‘tin tow’ net. It was used from a re-arranged after deck on the RV ''Clione'' to carry out a series of surveys of plaice and herring eggs and larvae in the southern bight of the North Sea. June 1963 saw an attempt to see if it would be possible to establish a British tuna fishery, when the RV ''Clione'' (cruise CLI/11/1963) made an exploratory cruise off the coasts of Portugal and Mediterranean Morocco. This was followed up in June 1965 (cruise CLI/8/1965) when the RV ''Clione'' made a voyage to the waters around the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, but like the earlier one it proved abortive. At the end of the 1960s, the activities of beam-trawlers in the North Sea brought complaints from other fishermen that beam-trawls were adversely affecting stocks and the benthic food of fish. It therefore became necessary to study the effects of trawling on the sea bed. At first

scuba diver Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

s and underwater cameras were deployed from the RV ''Clione'', but eventually an ARL Scanner was fitted to RV ''Clione'' as a result of collaboration with

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

scientists at the

Admiralty Research Laboratory The Admiralty Research Laboratory (ARL) was a research laboratory that supported the work of the UK Admiralty in Teddington, London, England from 1921 to 1977. History During the First World War, the Anti-Submarine Division of the Admiralty ha ...

, Teddington. This equipment had been developed during wartime for mine-hunting purposes. It ‘illuminated’ a sector of the sea-bed with sound and so indicated its configuration. It enabled fishing gear and fish to be ‘viewed’ in three dimensions from the research vessel for the first time. Throughout its years of service the RV ''Clione'' was employed on the large-scale tagging and transplantation of plaice from one sandbank to ‘foreign grounds’ in the North Sea. In 1964 (cruise CLI/2/1964) 13,000 plaice from the three principle spawning grounds were tagged and released, both locally on their ‘home grounds’ but also further afield to look at differential growth rates and migration patterns. The RV ''Clione'' was deployed on a number of surveys looking at

sandeel Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. While they are not true eels, they are eel-like in their appearance and can grow up to in length. Many species are found off the western coasts of Europe ...

populations in the North Sea. In July 1975 she was engaged in a spawning ground survey (cruise CLI/11B/1975) using the unmanned ''ANGUS''

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...

developed by

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

, off the Northeast coast of England.CLI/11B/1975, Cruise summary report, https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/report/7588/ Accessed 22/06/2018 On 27 July 1984 the ''Lowestoft Journal'' featured an article under the title ''"request for new research vessel to replace aging `Clione’"''.Lowestoft Journal, press-cutting file - http://www.dswebhosting.info/Suffolk/SRODServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Site31&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27clione%27%29, Accessed 22/06/2018 . This was followed on 30 January 1987 with an ''"advert for sale by open tender of research vessel `Clione`, LT 421"''. Finally, on 6 February 1987 the ''Lowestoft Journal'' featured an article under the title – ''"26-year-old research vessel `Clione` up for sale as new replacement `Corystes` in last stages of sea trials"''. In early 1988 the RV ''Clione'' was sold to Putford Enterprises of

. The RV ''Clione'' was re-hired by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) in December 1988 to carry out surveys at the Hastings Shingle Bank, sewage sludge dump sites off

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and aggregate extraction sites off the Isle of Wight, using side scan sonar, epibenthic dredges and underwater photography. This was necessary when the Ministry's existing survey vessel RV Corystes was taken out of service at short notice, requiring a change of propeller.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clione 1960 ships Ships of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Research vessels of the United Kingdom

Construction

Service as a fisheries research vessel

See also

References