Facts and Figures
Displacement:	4,600 tons.
Length:	300 ft.
Beam:	46ft.
Draught:	17ft 6in to 19ft.
Aircraft:	Two Wasp helicopters.
Armament:	Two 20mm Oerlikons.
Propulsion:	One B and W 550 VTBF diesel; 3,220 ihp, one shaft. Speed: Maximum 14.5 knots, cruising 12.5 knots. Complement: 128 (17 officers, 111men, including small Royal Marines detachment).

Endurance's Antarctic Christmas Presence
Text from Ships Of The Royal Navy no. 264
There is an element of fascination and excitement surrounding HMS Endurance, the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship, which leaves Portsmouth early this month for her seventh season's work in the Antarctic

With her bright red hell, for ease of identification in the ice, and the unusual but regular nature of her work, she is certainly different - which perhaps accounts for the number of her officers and rating who volunteer for duty in a little-known part of the world

During her six-month deployment, spanning Christmas, the Endurance supports the British Antarctic Survey during the polar summer and provides a valuable "presence" in the South Atlantic, where she also undertakes hydrographic and scientific tasks.

Capt. Derek Wallis, the commanding officer, explained that many marine charts in the area of the Falklands, which the ship uses as a base, were produced about 137 years ago and were being up-dated. Uncharted parts of the Antarctic were being surveyed for the first time.

The ship carries two full survey teams, one of which is capable of operating as a self-contained detached unit.

The two load-lifting, passenger-carrying helicopters are adapted for survey work and a major role for the Antarctic is vertical photography for such tasks as charting coast lines and checking the growth of glaciers.

Meteorology is an important aspect of any work in the Antarctic and apart from receiving weather information the ship also reports into the international system and to other met. stations in the area.

Some of the work is complementary to and in support of that of the British Antarctic Survey, whose bases range from the large one in South Georgia to small detached groups of scientists in the more remote new bases such as Adelaide Island.

As the former Danish ship Anita Dan, the ship - renamed for the Royal Navy in 1968 - was specially built to work in ice.

A feature of her design is that she can be controlled from the crow's nest to give long views over the ice.

She has since been modified to include flight deck, hangar and workshop facilities; more accommodation; heavy-lift boat davits; satellite meteorological and navigation terminals; equipment for deep-water sampling; and modern echo-sounding gear.

Defence cuts in recent years have led to speculation about her future, but there has been no decision about future deployments.

Her 1977 summer refit, the second successive one at Chatham, included work on the diesel generators, auxiliary machinery and valves as well as the usual "big paint job."

Care has been taken to ensure the Endurance is fit for a task which means she will have no docking and repair facilities for several months.

As the ice ship heads south via South American ports the ship's company will no doubt be musing on one disadvantage of an otherwise fascinating and rewarding trip - Christmas away from home.

The supply officer will already have planned the menu for December 25 and everyone will have brought and wrapped Christmas presents for those they leave behind.

Following in the Tradition of Shackleton
HMS Endurance is named after the vessel in which the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed for the Antarctic in 1914.

In 1915 she was trapped by ice in the Weddel Sea and eventually crushed and sunk. Sir Ernest and his crew travelled by open boat to Elephant Island, from where he made his epic voyage in one of the Endurance's open boats, the James Caird, to South Georgia.

After an incredible crossing of that island on foot the party was able to organize help for the men still stranded on Elephant Island, not one of whom was lost.

The present Endurance, which was re-named in June 1968, by the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of Sir Ernest, has three boats named after the boats of Sir Ernest's vessel - James Caird, Stancomb Wills and Dudley Docker.

The Endurance was originally the Danish vessel Anita Dan and is specially constructed for operation in ice. She replaced the former ice patrol ship HMS Protector.