RV Hero

Key takeaways

RV Hero belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect RV Hero to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of RV Hero from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

RV Hero was a research vessel that operated in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation between 1968 and 1984. She was decommissioned in 1984 and partially sank in 2017 after a storm in Bay Center, Washington.

Design In November 1964 the National Science Foundation commissioned the construction of a wooden shallow draft vessel to enter coastal waters in Antarctica, that larger vessels in service were unable to reach. The contract for the design of Hero was awarded to Potter and M'Arthur, Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts with construction taking place in South Bristol, Maine. Hero had a two deck wooden oak hull, coated with greenheart for icebreaking. For scientific work, she was outfitted with several laboratories, as well as accommodations for onboard scientists in addition to her normal crew. While primarily powered by a pair of diesel engines, she was rigged as a ketch sailing vessel in order to increase stability and allow for silent running. She was also equipped with several winches and a work boat to support underwater research. Hero had a gross tonnage of 300, a length of 125 ft (38 m), and a width of 30.33 ft (9.24 m). Her draft was 12.5 ft (3.8 m), and she had two 380 hp (280 kW) engines that allowed it to reach a speed of 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph). Including the crew and scientists, the ship had an accompaniment of ten.

Namesake Hero, was named after the sloop that Nathaniel Palmer sailed when he sighted Antarctica.

Career Hero was launched in 1968 by the shipyard of Harvey F. Gamage in South Bristol, Maine. Made from Maine oak timbers, Oregon fir, and also tropical greenheart from Guyana, South America. After finishing her shakedown cruise August 6–26, 1968, she arrived in Antarctica at Palmer Station for the first time on December 25, 1968, and as part of the United States Antarctic Program, for the next sixteen years, she transported scientists around the continent to perform research. Hero was the first vessel to be dedicated full time to scientists at Palmer Station, allowing them access to areas in the field that were previously inaccessible.

Operation Deep Freeze During the 1970–1971 season under Operation Deep Freeze Hero saw expeditions to the volcanic eruption at Deception Island, Antarctica. Hero helped a team of scientists who compiled research on dating the various eruptions over the years. During the 1971–1972 season of Operation Deep Freeze Hero assisted Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer and his ship, the Calypso. Hero was there to supply the Calypso with needed fuel but the next day a crew member was killed by the tail rotor of a tiny helicopter on the stern of the Calypso. Calypso's cruise was abruptly terminated. Also During Deep Freeze 1971–1972, National Geographic Magazine was on board the Hero writing a story about Palmer Station, Deception Island, and the research vessel.

Crew Pieter J. Lenie was the captain during the Hero's time in Antarctica. Robert L. Dale was the National Science Foundations liaison through the Office of Polar Programs from 1968–1975. Richard F. Parker served as Hero's chief engineer for a number of years until c. 1983 when he settled in Los Angeles, CA with his wife Abby (who briefly served as Hero's cook).

Science

This is a list of scientific explorations that Hero participated in, included a wide range of studies and fields.

Distribution and variation of marine mammals Ichthyology (The study of fish) Terrestrial plants Soil invertebrates Intertidal organisms, infauna Geological and geophysical reconnaissance Trawling for natural history specimens Bird observations Reversible freezing in plant tissue International volcanology expedition Survey of vertebrate, arthropod, and marine biotas Bioacoustics of marine mammals, distribution and ecology of marine birds Sampling for plankton, bottom life, and bacteria Structural geology Pollutants in the Peregrine falcon Benthic marine algae Study of seaweeds Sediment sampling Ecology of pack ice Study of tectonics Ecology of benthic fishes and echinoderms Oil spill contamination Seal studies Bathythermographs Nitrogen dioxide investigation in the Southern Hemisphere Leopard seals in the marine ecosystem Sea ice studies Whale studies

Decommission After the 1984 research season, Hero was decommissioned, and acquired by the Port of Umpqua in Reedsport, Oregon for $5,000 after which the nonprofit organization International Oceanographic Hero Foundation was formed by local residents with the intention to restore her into a museum ship. The foundation ran short of money and members, and was unable to find funding to pay for either restoration or maintenance of the vessel, and was dissolved in 1997. After an unsuccessful effort by former Hero crewmember John Morrison to purchase and restore the vessel, she was sold at auction to local fisherman Bill Wechter in 2000, who was able to move Hero to drydock for some restoration, and later moved her to Newport, Oregon. In 2008 she was sold to another local named Sun Feather LightDancer, who moved her to Bay Center, Washington, and intended to restore her but was unable to obtain the required financing. On March 4, 2017, Hero partially sank at her dock in Bay Center after a storm and deconstruction took place in the fall of 2022 removing what was left of the half sunken ship.

References

External links Lagerbom, Charles H. (April 13, 2021). A True 'Hero': History of a Maine-Built Research Vessel (Video). Camden Public Library – via YouTube. Media related to Hero at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with RV Hero

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what RV Hero claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to RV Hero before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about RV Hero ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of RV Hero

In research: RV Hero appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses RV Hero in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: RV Hero is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1968 ships, Maritime incidents in 2017, Research vessels of the National Science Foundation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for RV Hero outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study RV Hero in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what RV Hero means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain RV Hero out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is RV Hero in simple terms?

RV Hero was a research vessel that operated in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation between 1968 and 1984. She was decommissioned in 1984 and partially sank in 2017 after a storm in Bay Center, Washington.

Why does RV Hero matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study RV Hero?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on RV Hero.