RV Ernest Holt

During 1946, the vessel was designed by Mr V Gray of Cochrane & Sons, Selby. The commercial trawler "St. Bartholomew" (later Stella Arcturus) had been proven to behave well in bad weather on her maiden commercial voyage and hence 'RV Ernest Holt''''' was built along similar lines. The new ship was launched at Selby (Yorkshire) on 9 June 1948, by Mrs A.T.A Dobson, wife of the then Fisheries Secretary. In naming 'RV Ernest Holt''''' it was thought fitting to commemorate the pioneer naturalist of North Sea fisheries investigations Ernest William Lyons Holt, whose work at Grimsby in the 1890s had provided the foundation of fisheries science. The first Master of the 'RV Ernest Holt''''' was Captain W.R. Ingham, with a crew complement of 26. The planned complement of research staff was two naturalists and two technicians, but it was found necessary to modify this to three naturalists and one or two technicians. Trials were carried out in the Humber in December 1948 and the ship sailed from Grimsby on her maiden voyage on 4 January 1949. ==Service as a fisheries research vessel==

Fisheries survey logbooks from 'RV Ernest Holt''''' research campaigns in the 1950s have now been fully digitized by scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, revealing how cod in the Barents Sea and around Bear Island (Norway) responded to changing seawater temperatures during the 20th century. Datasets collected aboard the 'RV Ernest Holt''' were instrumental in the ground-breaking book On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations'' written by Ray Beverton and Sidney Holt in 1957. ==See also==