RV Calypso

The research vessel Calypso of Jacques Cousteau arriving in Montreal on 30 August 1980
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS J-826
BuilderBallard Marine Railway Company, Seattle, Washington, United States
Laid down12 August 1941
Launched21 March 1942
CommissionedFebruary 1943
RecommissionedBYMS-2026 (1944)
Decommissioned1946
RenamedCalypso G (1949)
France
OwnerThomas Guinness
OperatorCompagnie Océanographique Française, Nice
RenamedCalypso (1950)
ReclassifiedResearch vessel
RefitFor Cousteau (1951)
FateSunk and raised (1996)
StatusBeing refurbished under the direction of the Cousteau Society
General characteristics [1]
Tonnage294 GRT
Displacement360 tons
Length139 ft (42 m) (43 meters, according to another source)[2]
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft10 ft (3.0 m)
DecksThree
Installed power2 × 580 hp (430 kW) 8-cylinder General Motors diesel engines
PropulsionTwin screw
Speed10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Crew27 in captain's quarters, 6 staterooms and crew quarters
Notes
  • Photo and science labs
  • Underwater observation chamber
  • Helicopter landing pad
  • Yumbo 3-ton hydraulic crane
  • Minisub storage hold

RV Calypso is a former British Royal Navy minesweeper converted into a research vessel for the oceanographic researcher Jacques Cousteau, equipped with a mobile laboratory for underwater field research. She was severely damaged in 1996 and was planned to undergo a complete refurbishment in 2009–2011 that has not been accomplished. The ship is named after the Greek mythological figure Calypso.

  1. ^ "Sea Sabres: The Calypso: The stories she could tell!". 23 July 2003. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Une pétition pour "sauver" la Calypso du commandant Cousteau". Le Point (in French). Agence France Presse. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2016.