The HMS Endurance was built in 1956 as Anita Dan . In 1967 she was acquired by the British Royal Navy and served as an Antarctic patrol ship until 1991 .
history
As a merchant ship
The Anita Dan was originally ordered by the Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen and built by the Kröger shipyard in Rendsburg. The ship was one of a series of similar ships of the shipping company built at German shipyards that were designed for arctic conditions.
As an Antarctic patrol ship
In 1967 the British Ministry of Defense acquired the ship and had it converted into a supply and patrol ship. His endurance role was to monitor the British Antarctic Territory . It was also used in marine research in the South Atlantic . The range of the ship was 15,000 nautical miles at a speed of twelve knots. As part of budget cuts, it was planned to take the Endurance out of service in August 1982.
On March 19, 1982, however, Argentina occupied the British crown colony of South Georgia . The Endurance , which at that time was about 1,500 kilometers away on the Falkland Islands , then headed for the island, but withdrew again due to the superior strength of Argentina. After the arrival of the British Naval Association in the region, she took soldiers from the elite Special Boat Service unit on board, who landed in South Georgia on April 22nd and retook the island. Three days later, their two Wasp helicopters fired several air-to-surface missiles at the Argentine submarine Santa Fe , which was then abandoned by its crew. Until the end of the Falklands War, the Endurance remained off South Georgia, in the event of a renewed Argentine attack, which did not materialize.
As a result of the war, it was decided to continue using the Endurance . In 1987 their Wasp helicopters were replaced by two more modern Westland Lynx . The Endurance collided with an iceberg in 1989 while on patrol in Antarctica . It was temporarily repaired in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands and returned to England. Closer examination of the ship revealed severe structural damage to the hull. Ultimately, it was decided not to carry out an expensive repair. The Endurance was finally retired in 1991 and replaced by a successor, which was also christened Endurance . The ship is named after the Endurance Glacier on Elephant Island and the Endurance Reef in Marguerite Bay .
