Dundee Heritage Trust, the guardian of Captain Scott’s pioneering Antarctic ship, the Royal Research Ship Discovery in Dundee, has announced the beginning of the second phase of a major repair and conservation project aboard the ship.
This next phase, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the Dundee-built polar research ship, will involve extensive repairs to the weather-beaten bulwark and stanchions, and create a fully supportive habitat for the vessel for the very first time.
The works are expected to cost in excess of £2m and are generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Tay Cities Region Deal, the Northwood Charitable Trust, the Headley Trust, amongst others. Discovery Point and RRS Discovery will remain open as usual to visitors throughout the works, a rare opportunity to observe both traditional shipwrighting skills and modern conservation methods in action, as tales are uncovered from within the ship’s historic timbers.
Maritime consulting engineers Beckett Rankine and heritage engineers and conservators JPS Restoration & Consultancy Ltd have been re-appointed to the next phase after supporting its first phase. Since being appointed to manage the ship’s preservation in 2020, Beckett Rankine has created RRS Discovery’s long-term conservation plan. Informed by continual surveys and detailed assessments, the plan is used to guide the management of ongoing maintenance works, ensuring that high standards are met to protect the ship’s future.
The first phase of the project from 2023 to 2025 focused on £1.4m of urgent structural repairs to the most vulnerable stern section of the ship and was funded by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. This initial phase enabled Dundee Heritage Trust to break the back of the primary barrier to a project on this scale in the UK - a lack of suitably experienced shipwrights - by procuring a specialist heritage engineer, JPS Restoration and Consultancy Ltd as the main contractor, overseen by maritime heritage experts, Beckett Rankine.
During the first phase, JPS conserved areas of the ship’s deck and stern, involving traditional shipwrighting methods such as caulking, steam bending, and blacking - endangered skills at risk of being lost to over 1000 historic ships across the UK, including 6 operated as visitor attractions in Scotland. Through the project, these traditional techniques are being preserved, documented, and shared for future generations.
125 years of Discovery
The announcement of the next phase of conservation work comes as the RRS Discovery approaches its 125th anniversary. The first ship in the world specifically designed for the purpose of scientific research in Antarctica, Discovery was built in Dundee due to the city’s expertise in polar shipbuilding. Launched on 21 March 1901, the ship’s legacy includes its pioneering 1901-04 Antarctic expedition under Captain Robert Falcon Scott, alongside the junior officer, Ernest Shackleton. Designated a Royal Research Ship in 1925, she would later set sail on groundbreaking oceanographic expeditions.
Returned to its home city by Dundee Heritage Trust in 1986, RRS Discovery is today at the geographic, economic and cultural heart of Dundee, explored by tens of thousands of visitors from across the globe each year. Part of the UK’s National Historic Fleet, she is officially recognised as one of the UK’s most important historic ships.
Formed in 1985 with a mission to preserve the ship for future generations, the Trust also has responsibility for Discovery Point, an Accredited museum and one of the region’s most popular visitor attractions telling the story of Discovery and her groundbreaking scientific expeditions. The current project aboard the ship is a part of the Trust’s wider transformation project at Discovery Point, which hopes to transform the museum for the next generation.
Zone Scotland