HMS Protector (A146)

HMS Protector was an Antarctic patrol vessel of the Royal Navy between 1955 and 1968. She was built as a fast net layer in 1935.

History
Protector was laid down as a fast net layer by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow in August 1935, launched in August 1936 and commissioned on 30 December 1936. Her sister ship, HMS Guardian (1932), was built in 1932 and scrapped in 1962.

She served in the South Atlantic and in the Norwegian Campaign during World War II before being hit by an aerial torpedo in the Mediterranean. She was towed to Bombay and repaired before returning to Britain after the end of hostilities.

In 1953, she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

After time in the fleet reserve as a training ship she was refitted as an ice patrol ship in Devonport, with a rudimentary hangar and flight deck for two Westland Whirlwind helicopters. She made her first Antarctic patrol in the winter of 1955/56, serving the Falklands and the British Antarctic Survey bases. She returned to the Antarctic 13 more times in her career.

During her patrols she rescued the passengers and crew of the icebound MV Theron, including Sir Edmund Hillary and Dr Vivian Fuchs. In 1957, she rescued the passengers of the RRS Shackleton, which struck an iceberg and had to perform emergency repairs to keep from sinking.

Protector was sold for scrapping at Inverkeithing on 10 February 1970. She was replaced by HMS Endurance (1967).