page_title: HMS Protector (A146)
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Protector (A146) / Service
caption_attribution_description: English: Westland Whirlwind HAR.1 XA868 coded PR-449 based on HMS Protector, at Lee-on-Solent in 1969.
context_page_description: HMS Protector was an Antarctic patrol vessel of the Royal Navy between 1955 and 1968. She was built in 1935.
context_section_description: Protector was listed as part of the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1939, and remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet in August, on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War.
  Protector 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, the ship took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
  After time in the fleet reserve as a training ship, Protector 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 Falkland Islands and the British Antarctic Survey bases. She returned to the Antarctic 13 more times in her career.
  During her patrols the ship rescued the passengers and crew of the icebound MV Theron, including Sir Edmund Hillary and Dr Vivian Fuchs. In 1957, Protector rescued the passengers of the RRS Shackleton, which had struck an iceberg and had to perform emergency repairs to keep from sinking.
  In 1960 Protector was under the command of the Commander in Chief, South Atlantic and South America.
  Protector was sold for scrap at Inverkeithing on 10 February 1970. She was replaced by HMS Endurance.
caption: Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind wearing Penguin symbol after service aboard HMS Protector in the late 1960s.
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