History of the SS Explorer
The Fishery Research Vessel F.R.S. Explorer, built to the order of the Scottish Home Department, was the last ship completed by the Aberdeen shipbuilding firm of Alexander Hall & Co. Ltd..
The SS Explorer was launched on the 21st June 1955 by Lady Rachel Stuart, wife of the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Explorer was a mixture of the traditional and the - then - new.
The 1,000 i.h.p. Triple Expansion main steam engine, being the last built in Aberdeen, represented the end of the line for the former.
The role of the Explorer was to investigate fish breeding and feeding grounds so as to establish fishing levels and species types for the British market. In addition pollution and fish diseases that might adversely affect catches were monitored.
The classic lines of a Deep Sea Beam Trawler were well suited to working in the traditional Fishing Grounds, and extra strengthening of the hull prepared her also for service in the Arctic waters off Greenland & Iceland, and the Barent and White Seas north of Russia.
