RV ''Hero'' was a research vessel that operated in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation between 1968 and 1984. She was decommissioned in 1984 and partially sank in 2017 after a storm in Bay Center, Washington.

Design

In November of 1964 the National Science Foundation commissioned the construction of a wooden shallow draft vessel to enter coastal waters in Antarctica, that larger vessels in service were unable to reach. The contract for the design of ''Hero'' was awarded to ''Potter and M'Arthur, Inc.'', of Boston, Massachusetts with construction taking place in

South Bristol, Maine South Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,127 at the 2020 census. A fishing and resort area, South Bristol includes the villages of Walpole and Christmas Cove, the latter on Rutherford Island. The tow ...

. ''Hero'' had a two deck wooden oak

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, coated with greenheart for icebreaking. For scientific work, she was outfitted with several laboratories, as well as accommodations for onboard scientists in addition to her normal crew. While primarily powered by a pair of diesel engines, she was rigged as a ketch sailing vessel in order to increase stability and allow for silent running. She was also equipped with several

winches A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...

and a work boat to support underwater research. ''Hero'' had a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of 300, a length of , and a width of . Her draft was , and she had two engines that allowed it to reach a speed of . Including the crew and scientists, the ship had an accompaniment of ten.

Namesake

''Hero'', was named after the sloop that Nathaniel Palmer sailed when he sighted Antarctica.

Career

''Hero'' was launched in 1968 by the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

of Harvey F. Gamage in South Bristol, Maine. Made from Maine oak timbers,

Oregon fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California of North America, occurring at altitudes of sea leve ...

, and also Chlorocardium, tropical greenheart from Guyana, Guyana, South America. After finishing her shakedown cruise August 6–26, 1968, she arrived in Antarctica at Palmer Station for the first time on December 25, 1968, and as part of the United States Antarctic Program, for the next sixteen years, she transported scientists around the continent to perform research. ''Hero'' was the first vessel to be dedicated full time to scientists at Palmer Station, allowing them access to areas in the field that were previously inaccessible.

Operation Deep Freeze

During the 1970–1971 season under Operation Deep Freeze ''Hero'' saw expeditions to the Volcano, volcanic eruption at Deception Island, Antarctica. ''Hero'' helped a team of scientists who compiled research on dating the various eruptions over the years. During the 1971–1972 season of Operation Deep Freeze ''Hero'' assisted Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer and his ship, the RV Calypso, Calypso. ''Hero'' was there to supply the Calypso with needed fuel but the next day a crew member was killed by the tail rotor of a tiny helicopter on the stern of the Calypso. Calypso's cruise was abruptly terminated. Also During Deep Freeze 1971–1972, National Geographic, National Geographic Magazine was on board the ''Hero'' writing a story about Palmer Station, Deception Island, and the research vessel.

Crew

Pieter J. Lenie was the captain during the ''Hero's'' time in Antarctica. Robert L. Dale was the National Science Foundations liaison through the Office of Polar Programs from 1968–1975. Richard F. Parker served as ''Hero's'' chief engineer for a number of years until when he settled in Los Angeles, CA with his wife Abby (who briefly served as ''Hero's cook).''

Science

This is a list of scientific explorations that ''Hero'' participated in, included a wide range of studies and fields. * Distribution and variation of marine mammals * Ichthyology (The study of fish) * Terrestrial plants * Soil invertebrates * Intertidal zone, Intertidal organisms, infauna * Geological and geophysical reconnaissance * Trawling for natural history specimens * Bird observations * Reversible freezing in plant tissue * International volcanology expedition * Survey of vertebrate, arthropod, and marine Biota (ecology), biotas * Bioacoustics of marine mammals, distribution and ecology of marine birds * Sampling for plankton, bottom life, and bacteria * Structural geology * Pollutants in the Peregrine falcon * Benthic zone, Benthic marine algae * Study of seaweeds * Sediment sampling * Ecology of pack ice * Study of tectonics * Ecology of benthic fishes and echinoderms * Oil spill contamination * Pinniped, Seal studies * Bathythermographs * Nitrogen dioxide investigation in the Southern Hemisphere * Leopard seals in the marine ecosystem * Sea ice studies * Whale studies

Decommission

After the 1984 research season, ''Hero'' was decommissioned, and acquired by the ''Port of Umpqua'' in Reedsport, Oregon for after which the nonprofit organization ''International Oceanographic Hero Foundation'' was formed by local residents with the intention to restore her into a museum ship. The foundation ran short of money and members, and was unable to find funding to pay for either Conservation and restoration of cultural property, restoration or maintenance of the vessel, and was dissolved in 1997. After an unsuccessful effort by former ''Hero'' crewmember John Morrison to purchase and restore the vessel, she was sold at auction to local fisherman Bill Wechter in 2000, who was able to move ''Hero'' to drydock for some restoration, and later moved her to Newport, Oregon. In 2008 she was sold to another local named Sun Feather LightDancer, who moved her to Bay Center, Washington, and intended to restore her but was unable to obtain the required financing. On March 4, 2017, ''Hero'' partially sank at her dock in Bay Center after a storm and deconstruction took place in the fall of 2022 removing what was left of the half sunken ship.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hero, RV Ships built in South Bristol, Maine 1968 ships Research vessels of the National Science Foundation Maritime incidents in 2017 Research vessels of the United States