HMS Protector came across an iceberg the size of Bristol, say the Royal Navy.

The iceberg was 11 miles long and five wide.

According to the Royal Navy in a news release:

“The Plymouth-based ship is coming to the end of a deployment to update maps and charts of the seas around Antarctica, support scientists in remote research stations on the frozen continent, and help experts study the effects of global warming on one of the world’s largest glaciers.

She was making for the sunken volcano on Deception Island after helping British Antarctic Survey scientists conduct geological work around Cape Melville in the South Shetland Islands – 500 miles from the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn – when she came across the mammoth berg.”

The iceberg is believed to be one given an official designation by scientists – A57A. It broke away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea – some 1,100 miles from where Protector encountered it – more than a decade ago.

From observations from other Antarctic travellers and explorers, it looks like it is melting at a rate of about nine per cent of its size at present, say the Royal Navy.

Tom Dunlop
Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

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29 COMMENTS

  1. Royal Navy discovers giant iceberg that has broken off from its natural habitat. Is there a metaphor here…..I wonder? Melting at a rate of 9%…yes, about right. But all is not lost…R2EU is on its way!

    • Well, My Mother’s Brother ( or Dad as we Call Him ) has 2 Thumbs on one Foot and a Hairy Mole on his Middle Nipple. But he can Drive a Tractor !

      • Bristol tends to be thought of as a sort of Somerset Enclave, set up after the Roman Invasion, for Quarantine purposes. ( on account of their Odd Appearance and Odder Language ). But, They soon broke out and with the help of clever Makeup, Settled in the new area we have learned to call “Avon”.( Ding Dong )

        Other Theories include , Chemicals being pumped Into the Local Water Supply ( Just take a look at the Cornish ) and In-Breeding with the Beast of Exmoor, Radiation Poisoning from Hinkley Point A ( and more recently B ) and an unhealthy Appetite for Laverbread.

        Either way, Bristolians Ain’t Normal.

        So There.

        • Oh Dear.

          Give It up now Basil mate. It’s Bloody Humour you Dim Wit. FFS.

          And please address me as Captain next time you choose to Troll me.

          • Daniele. Makes my Cornish Blood Boil when some “Fellow Sailor” has a Humour Deformity and chooses to act all Hard and Silly on a Forum.

            Got Devon and Cornish Jeans In the Family as well as Scottish dresses too. not to mention a few other Country’s.

            Sorry about that Baz Mate.

            I Got a great Idea, Lets play Time Served In the RN. Reckon You’d win though, by all accounts.

          • good idea. Give up. For once a sensible suggestion. Of course it’s humour, but low level easy jibe, And as is exercised by low level FW there is a belief that one can say anything, call it humour and no-one is offended. Sad mate, your stock just dropped a few notches

          • Reckon ?

            Personally I think you just Bottled It.

            Again Baz Mate, Give us your History.

            Some of us on here would love to know.

  3. I like HMS protector but the ship she replaced HMS Endurance was bigger and had a double hangar, we should build a bigger better RN ice breaker or two maybe even Nuclear like Russia! Ok maybe not Nuclear for a research boat full of environmentalists. But if we are going to be serious about RN Arctic operations in future we need more than 1 RN ship. And the fact we are replacing RRS James Clarke Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton with one ship RRS Boaty mcboat face makes our arctic ships even more stretched, two ships total is not enough. And RRS Ernest isn’t much older than HMS protector and it’s prety much the same kind of ship so we should transfer her to the Navy when Boat face is commissioned so the Navy can always have atleast one arctic ship available all year round. They will be selling or scrapping both RRS ships anyway so no expensive build cost. It’s a win win.

    • Yes, the Sir David Attenborough might be good basis…and good value for money as well as a an RN ship. We could afford two or three of these and would be a considerable presence in the Antarctic region1 (along with R2EU)

      • Eternally Known as “Boaty McBoatface” to the Majority of us Brits that Voted.

        Not that a Vote actually counts for anything these Days.

        (Angry Face Emoji)

        • I’m sure that you are! The democratic process is a little more involved than one test. thank God that it is….otherwise we would be saddled with the same government for eternity!

        • Hero Dot Us , Well that’s the Truth right there Isn’t It. I guess we are lucky to not live In a Country Dominated by One Person, One Family or one Ideal.

          Not that I have ever found our Democratic Leaders anymore Appealing TBK.

          But, and It’s an Enormous Great Big Butt, I did jump at the chance to vote for, what I thought might be a Step change in all that.

          I live In Hope.

    • The navy is feeling the loss of Endurance, there is strong internal pressure to replace Protector with an aviation capable vessel. Ice breaker not required, but needs to be high ice class. Watch this space in a years time.

      • I hope so, but we do need ice breakers if we want to do what we want in the arctic regions, class 4 and down would be good. RRS boat face is class 4 but they only made the propulsion as class 5!!!!

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