 The research vesselCalypso of Jacques Cousteau arriving in Montreal on 30 August 1980 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSJ-826 |
| Builder | Ballard Marine Railway Company,Seattle,Washington, United States |
| Laid down | 12 August 1941 |
| Launched | 21 March 1942 |
| Commissioned | February 1943 |
| Recommissioned | BYMS-2026 (1944) |
| Decommissioned | 1946 |
| Renamed | Calypso G (1949) |
 France | |
| Owner | Thomas Guinness |
| Operator | Compagnie Océanographique Française, Nice |
| Renamed | Calypso (1950) |
| Reclassified | Research vessel |
| Refit | For Cousteau (1951) |
| Fate | Sunk and raised (1996) |
| Status | Destroyed in a fire in 2016 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Tonnage | 294 GRT |
| Displacement | 360 tons |
| Length | 139 ft (42 m) (43 meters, according to another source)[2] |
| Beam | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Draft | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Decks | Three |
| Installed power | 2 × 580 hp (430 kW) 8-cylinderGeneral Motors diesel engines |
| Propulsion | Twin screw |
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Crew | 27 in captain's quarters, 6 staterooms and crew quarters |
| Notes |
|
RVCalypso is a former BritishRoyal Navyminesweeper converted into aresearch vessel for theoceanographic researcherJacques 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 figureCalypso.
Calypso was originally aminesweeper built by theBallard Marine Railway Company ofSeattle,Washington, United States for the United States Navy for loan to the British Royal Navy underlend-lease. A wooden-hulled vessel, she is built ofOregon pine.[3]
She was aBritish yard minesweeper (BYMS) Mark 1 class motor minesweeper,laid down on 12 August 1941 with yard designationBYMS-26 andlaunched on 21 March 1942. She wascommissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1943 asHMSJ-826 and assigned to active service in theMediterranean Sea, based inMalta, and was reclassified asBYMS-2026 in 1944. Following the end ofWorld War II, she wasdecommissioned in July 1946 and laid up at Malta. On 1 August 1947 she was formally handed back to the US Navy and then struck from the US Naval Register, remaining in lay-up.[4]
In May 1949 she was bought by Joseph Gasan of Malta, who had secured the mail contract on theferry route betweenMarfa, in the north of Malta, andMġarr, Gozo, in the south of Malta, in 1947.[4] She was converted to a ferry and renamedCalypso G after thenymphCalypso, whose island ofOgygia was mythically associated with Gozo, entering service in March 1950. After only four months on the route, Gasan received an attractive offer and sold her.[4]
The British millionaire and formerMember of Parliament (MP),Thomas Loel Guinness boughtCalypso in July 1950.[5][6] He leased her to Cousteau for a symbolic onefranc a year. He had two conditions: that Cousteau never ask him for money and that he never reveal his identity, which only came out after Cousteau's death. Cousteau restructured and transformed the ship into an expedition vessel and support base fordiving, filming and oceanographic research. One of the more unusual expeditions involving the vessel was a survey of Abu Dhabi waters conducted by Cousteau on behalf ofBritish Petroleum (BP) in 1954 – the first and last time it was used for an oil survey.[7]
Calypso carried advanced equipment, including one- and two-man mini submarines developed by Cousteau,diving saucers, andunderwater scooters. The ship was also fitted with a see-through "nose" and an observation chamber 3 metres (9.8 ft) below the waterline, and was modified to house scientific equipment and a helicopter pad. TheCalypso underwater camera is named after this ship.
On 8 January 1996, abarge accidentally rammedCalypso and sank her in the port ofSingapore. On 16 January, she was raised by a 230-foot (70 m) crane, patched, and pumped dry before being put in a shipyard.[8]
Calypso was later towed to the Maritime Museum ofLa Rochelle in 1998 to be an exhibit.
A legal dispute between Jacques Cousteau's widow,Francine Cousteau, and Loel Guinness, the grandson of the original owner, delayed restoration work. During this time the city of La Rochelle withdrew its funding for the restoration.Calypso remained in disrepair.[3]
In 2002,Alexandra Cousteau, Cousteau's granddaughter from his first marriage, tried to become involved in the restoration. TheCousteau Society, controlled by Francine Cousteau, reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend Francine's exclusive use of the name and to prevent Alexandra's participation in the restoration ofCalypso.[citation needed]
In 2006 Loel Guinness transferred ownership ofCalypso to the Cousteau Society for the sum of one euro. In October 2007 the ship wasmoved toConcarneau where restoration[clarify] began at the Piriou Shipyard.[9] Work onCalypso stopped in 2009 because of the non-payment of bills by Francine Cousteau.[10] Piriou claimed to be owed €850,000 for work already done. The Cousteau Society counter-sued for defective work. In 2015 a French court ordered Francine Cousteau to settle outstanding yard bills and removeCalypso from aBrittany shipyard or allow the shipyard to sell the vessel.[11]
The Cousteau Society announced in 2016 that a solution had been found to allow the ship to return to service with new engines.[12] In 2017 a fire damaged new wooden parts of the Calypso at a shipyard near Istanbul, Turkey, where her refitting had been in progress.[13]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1996 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
