RV ''Laurence M. Gould'' is an

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

used by researchers from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

. for research in the Southern Ocean. The vessel is named after

Laurence McKinley Gould Laurence McKinley Gould (August 22, 1896 – June 21, 1995) was an American geologist, educator, and polar explorer. He made expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic, and was chief scientist on Richard Evelyn Byrd's first Antarctic expeditio ...

, an American scientist who had explored both the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

and

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

. He was second in command of Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first expedition to Antarctica from 1928 to 1930. He helped to set up an exploration base at Little America on the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...

at the

Bay of Whales The Bay of Whales was a natural ice harbour, or iceport, indenting the front of the Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide. The Ross Sea ...

. Gould died in 1995 at the age of 98, and in the same year the National Science Foundation initiated the charter for the services of this ice-strengthened vessel to further its studies and knowledge of the Antarctic Peninsula and Southern Ocean. The ARSV Laurence M. Gould is operated by the Antarctic Support Contract (ASC) on a long-term charter from

Edison Chouest Offshore Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), started as Edison Chouest Boat Rentals in 1960, is family of companies in the marine transportation business based in Cut Off, Louisiana. ECO owns and operates a fleet of Platform supply vessels, Subsea Construction / ...

(ECO). ASC staffs the vessel with a charter representative to coordinate cruise planning and scheduling, and with technical staff to support science operations. ECO provides the vessel master, ice pilot, and crew. The vessel charter with Edison-Chouest Offshore expires July 16, 2024 with the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs announcing in April 2024 that the charter will not be renewed on conclusion of the 2023-24 Antarctic season. The Gould, completed in 1998, is 230 feet long and is ice-classed ABS-A1, capable of breaking one foot of level ice with continuous forward motion. The Gould can accommodate 37 scientists and staff in one- and two-person staterooms. The Gould acts as a resupply ship and does long term environmental researchPalmer LTER
/ref> in the

Drake Passage The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atla ...

and the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

, shuttling between

Punta Arenas, Chile Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

and

Palmer Station Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarcti ...

, Antarctica. She replaced the RV Polar Duke as the main supply ship to Palmer Station. File:LMGatPuntaArenas.jpg, The ''Laurence M. Gould'' docked at Punta Arenas, Chile, alongside her older and bigger sister ship, the '' Nathaniel B. Palmer'' File:RV Lawrence M. Gould at Palmer Station.jpg, RV ''Laurence M. Gould'' at

File:RV Lawrence M. Gould - 2.jpg, RV ''Laurence.M. Gould'' in

Arthur Harbor Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

References

External links

Research Vessels of the US Antarctic Program

Current position of the RV Laurence M. Gould

News on the USAP Research Vessels inThe Antarctic Sun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurence M. Gould, RV Research vessels of the National Science Foundation Icebreakers of the United States Ships built in Louisiana 1997 ships United States Antarctic Program