SD ''Colonel Templer'' (previously RMAS ''Colonel Templer'' (A229)) is an acoustic research vessel, renamed ''Seaway Endeavour'' in 2011 after she was sold to a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

shipping company. Between 1980 and 2011, she was in the service of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in me ...

, the

Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service The Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (RMAS) was a British Government agency which ran a variety of auxiliary vessels for His Majesty's Naval Service (incl. Royal Navy, Royal Marines) and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The service from 2009 has been ...

and

Serco Marine Services Serco Marine Services is a Private Finance Initiative contract, with Serco Group, to deliver auxiliary services to His Majesty's Naval Service (incl. Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary). Marine Services primarily operates fr ...

in support of the United Kingdom's

Naval Service Naval Service may refer to either: * His Majesty's Naval Service, Britain's Royal Navy plus additional services * Naval Service (Ireland), a branch of the Irish Defence Forces * United States Department of the Navy, United States military department ...

. Before 1980, ''Colonel Templer'' was known as MV ''Criscilla'' and worked as a

stern trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

. Her displacement is 1,300 tonnes and dimensions 56 m by 11 m by 5.6 m. Her complement is 14 and speed 12 knots. Twelve scientists can be carried.

Ships history

The ship was built in 1966 by

Hall, Russell & Company Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland. History Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boile ...

for J Marr and Sons of Hull. At the time she served as a stern trawler named MV ''Criscilla''. In 1980, she was sold to the

, Farnborough and renamed ''Colonel Templer'' after Colonel James Templer, an early British military pioneer of balloons and superintendent of the Aldershot balloon factory. By the late 80s she was converted into an acoustic

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or 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 but others require a dedicate ...

, mainly for sonar work by the

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official h ...

. After a serious fire in 1990, the ship underwent a major rebuild and in November 2000, ''Colonel Templer'' was handed over to the

(RMAS) and operated under contract by Serco Denholm, based at

HMNB Clyde His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

. In 2001, she was converted to support diving training with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. Following the disbandment of the RMAS in March 2008, ''Colonel Templer'' was transferred to

and received the ship prefix 'SD'. In July 2011, she was sold to a Swedish firm and renamed ''Seaway Endeavour'' with a blue and white livery.Seaway Endeavour - IMO 6619944
shipspotting.com, retrieved 21 June 2014

References

* Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service Serco Marine Services (ships) Ships built in Aberdeen 1966 ships Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company {{UK-aux-ship-stub

Ships history

See also

References