Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Hooper (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 21 March 2011.

HMS ““Endurance””

Question: My Lords, in thanking my noble friend for his reply, perhaps I may say that I feel sure that the noble Viscount, Lord Montgomery, will be greatly cheered to hear of this progress. He has, after all, been raising the issue regularly since the flooding accident suffered by HMS ““Endurance”” in the South Atlantic in 2008. Is my noble friend able to elaborate further about the past history of the new ice patrol ship to which he referred? Can he tell us why the name ““Protector”” has been selected?

Answer: My Lords, the name ““Protector”” has a historic connection with Britain’s Antarctic commitment. It was the name of the ship which preceded the former ““Endurance”” in the Atlantic role. ““Protector”” was the sixth ship to bear the name and completed 13 Antarctic deployments from 1955 to 1968. A seventh ship of the name saw service as a Falkland Islands patrol vessel from 1983 to 1987. This is the eighth time that the name has been used. The intention is to lease MV ““Polarbjorn””, a Norwegian ice patrol ship for an initial period of three years. She will arrive in Portsmouth in May where she will be fitted with specialist military equipment needed for her deployment. I have photographs of HMS ““Protector””, which I can show to any noble Lord who is interested.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 726 c450
Session: 2010-12
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Antarctic Procurement Navy Patrol craft HMS Protector HMS Endurance
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk