Urgent RRS Discovery repair work given £1.4m funding boost

Urgent restoration work on the famous RRS Discovery in Dundee is under way after a new £1.4m funding award.

The vessel was purpose-built in the city to take explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott to the Antarctic in the early 1900s.

But the ageing wooden structure of the ship, which returned to Dundee in 1986, is beginning to decay.

The first phase of the work, focusing on the stern, is expected to take about seven months.

Conservation engineer Jim Mitchell from JPS Restoration said: "Because the ship has been in dry dock for so long, the dynamics of the structure have changed.

"Without any water supporting the ship we're finding there are changes, particularly to the stern of the ship.

"There's a bit of movement and changes of shape to the structure and that has to be dealt with quite urgently now."

Discovery was the first ship to be designed specifically for scientific research and the last traditional three-masted ship to be built in the UK.

Mr Mitchell said the biggest challenge would be maintaining the stability of the ship's structure.

He said: "To do that, we have to build a steel supporting structure outside of the hull over the top of the ship.

"The hull will be suspended from that and basically we can get into the structure of the ship and start dismantling some of the rotted timbers.

"The timbers are quite severely rotted on the port side. There's been work done over the years of varying quality, mostly before the ship came to Dundee."

Work will start in the internal hull, bow and propeller shaft including decay in the stern timbers, followed by work to the portside bulwarks.

Mr Mitchell said: "One of the biggest challenges is finding the size of timber that's needed to do the work, such as oak beams.

"We may need to substitute them for other types of hardwood if we can't find the sections we need.

Dundee Heritage Trust said it had acquired two antique teak logs enabling the best quality wood to be used for the deck of the ship.

Mr Mitchell said it was "inevitable" other areas needing addressed would be found.

He said: "What you see here is a ship that was built for use in Antarctica. There are many layers to the hull to give the ship strength.

"It's a bit like peeling the onion in a way. We take a layer off, we're going to find things underneath.

"And the fact is, the Scottish environment is not the best for a ship like this."

The ship, which has been moored at Discovery Point since in 1992, has welcomed 300,000 visitors in the last five years.

Emma Halford-Forbes from Dundee Heritage Trust said: "These funds from the National Heritage Memorial Fund are crucial in efforts to save the ship for future generations.

"The ability to bring forward these urgent works will be pivotal in securing the ship's future, while we work on plans for further conservation works in the coming years."