text:
Talk:Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)

Regime
''In 1989 Taylor launched an armed uprising from Ivory Coast. He came to power in 1990 after Prince Johnson overthrowing and killing President Samuel Doe whose troops had been accused of civilian attrocities. Taylor had been appointed by Doe to run the General Services Agency but did jail time in a Massachusetts prison when Doe accused him of embezzeling almost US$ 1 million.

Taylor's regime was legitimized when he became Liberia's president in a landslide poll victory in 1997. The vote may have been tainted by ballot-stuffing and intimidation of opponents. '''

What title if any did Taylor have between 90 and 97? the article states he came to power in 90, but he became president in 97, what about Sawyer who is listed as Pres from 90-97 was he just a figure head or was he an opposing group that had international recongization ? User:Smith03

The second-biggest rebel group is Movement for Democracy in Liberia

Nigeria
Could someone explain me what is ment by neighbouring country Nigeria? -- Inic

 * It's nearby. They don't border but are part of the same region. Everyking 08:02, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

This article is hopelessly confusing
As someone who doesn't know much about Charles Taylor, this article is hopelessly confusing to me.

Firstly, there's a lot of missing context information. For example, a paragraph starts with "He was briefly arrested in 1979 after threatening to take over the Liberian diplomatic mission in New York City". What job did he have at this time? This might not seem like a big problem, but such background information is missing throughout this article.

Secondly, you have parts that are ridiculously short and eventful. Here's an example: "Taylor managed to flee the United States and shortly thereafter went to Libya where he underwent guerrilla training under Muammar al-Gaddafi, becoming Qaddafi's protegé.[3] Eventually he left Libya and used the training he gained there to begin a civil war in Liberia." Holy crap! Did someone just become an international fugitive, become an ally of an infamous dictator, and start a civil war in yet another country - all in just two sentences!?

Then you have things that are just totally unexplained. For example, "After the official end of the civil war in 1996, Taylor became Liberia's president on August 2, 1997, following a landslide victory in July, in which he took 75 percent of the vote." Could someone please explain to me what the relevance of Sierra Leone's civil war to Liberia is? Sure, it mentions Taylor's association with the RUF, but I still don't see the relevance. I'm sure it is relavent, but I don't know why.

You also have periods of time that are simply missing. For example, the section "rise to power" is followed by "end of rule". What happened in between?

This article needs some serious re-writting. 58.172.80.154 (talk) 01:57, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for leaving your concerns here. I worked on this article awhile ago and added some of the sentences you mention (Ghaddafi, arrest in NYC) from some Economist articles I read about Taylor. Most articles about Taylor rarely give any type of deep background into his bio, so it can be confusing even for someone wading through a lot of sources. The sources I referred to said nothing more than what I added to the article, and it's better for it to be included, albeit briefly, than not at all. However, someone could definitely try to fill in these gaps.--Gloriamarie (talk) 17:54, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Number of Nigerian peacekeepers
"The neighbouring nation of Nigeria also deployed dozens of troops to the country"

I just watched a documentary (Liberia: An uncivil war) which claimed that about 700 Nigerian peacekeepers were deployed. I did a quick search and found this which says that initially 200 peacekeepers were deployed, and that 3250 was expected. Couldn't find anything on how many who were eventually deployed, but "dozens" might be understating it a bit. The History of Liberia article mentions the Nigerian peacekeepers, but doesn't say how many they were. 80.203.115.12 22:34, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
 * There were two separate UN peacekeeping missions, each done partly in conjunction with an ECOWAS mission. The article on this topic (UNMIL)) is painfully incorrect, as I've noted on its talk page, and I plan to fix it up and break it into two articles as it should be since I am quite knowledgable about the topic.  As of right now, I'm not sure of the answer to your question but Nigeria did send peacekeepers to both missions and had quite a bit more for the second mission.  That probably has something to do with the confusion on this topic.  The two missions were UNOMIL (1993-1997) and UNMIL (2003-Present).  The first had an ECOWAS counterpart, the second one started out under ECOWAS and got taken over by the UN, if my memory serves me.  I'll brush up on the subject tonight and fix the problem. --The Way 15:15, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Pat Robertson
Has anybody got more information concerning why Pat Robertson tried to portray this loathesome dictator as some sort of persecuted hero? Sweetfreek 21:53, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

If its mentioned at all, I think it should be done in passing, e.g. "He has spawned controversy, illiciting support from such notables as X, and larger outcry from X." Arvidius 09:21, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Pat Robertson owns (or owned) a gold mine in Liberia, among other properties in that country. I guess holy men of God need money too 195.7.34.195 13:50, 28 March 2006 (UTC) K.B.

I've added a citation to the Virginian-Pilot article. However, the article is not sufficient for much of the current section on Pat Robertson. The content of this section should be edited and additional reliable sources provided. Alternatively, the content could be deleted, or greatly downsized, since it concerns Pat Robertson more than Charles Taylor. (I tend to agree with Arvidius's solution of mentioning Pat Robertson in passing, presuming that other notables did support Taylor.) -Scottwiki 05:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Any objection to moving this Pat Robertson section between Rise to Power and End of Rule? As is, everything else is chronological, this is the only section that is out of place. GRuban 19:04, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Pat Robertson is not a key figure in the story of Charles Taylor. The progression "Rise to Power" - "Taylor and Pat Robertson" - "End of Rule" emphasizes Robertson all out of proportion to the story of Taylor and his rule in Liberia.  I'm convinced now that Robertson should be mentioned in passing, if at all.
 * (Charles Taylor may be a key figure in the story of *Pat Robertson,* since the Taylor connection is a notable controversy in Robertson's career. That justifies a section on Taylor in the Pat Robertson article.  Taylor's importance to the article on Robertson doesn't mean that Robertson is important to the article on Taylor.)  -Scottwiki 04:31, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

The current version of the Pat Robertson section has a bad reference (14) in it. This referenced article is indeed about Pat Robertson, but does not mention Taylor, diamond mines, or the DA of Virginia. I've never written in Wiki; can someone address this? Is there a better reference?4.228.21.117 18:56, 24 December 2006 (UTC)Wisdomaspire

Child soldiers?
The articles places no mention upon the army of over 20,000 child soldiers that Taylor had in the NPFL, and his methodologies of keeping them loyal. I know wikipedia has a very narrow index of child soldiery articles, but I think it is particularly relevant, especially with his involvement in Sierra Leone. Arvidius 09:23, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

His middle name
The article lists his middle name as Ghankay. I've heard some sources give McArthur as his middle name. Which is it?

 * It appears that "Charles MacArthur Taylor" is an alias. See, for example, . -Scottwiki 10:35, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

 * I'm not sure, but I think MacArthur was his original middle name, and Ghankay was something he added later, perhaps for symbolic reasons because the name is African. Everyking 07:45, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Missing information
The article states "...controlled most of the country. Doe was overthrown, and tortured to death..." in the paragraph detailing one of the first uprisings he lead. Who the hell is Doe?

Samuel Doe was a military dictator who performed a coup d'etat circa 1980 and who Charles Taylor worked for for three years before being exiled to the US. When Charles Taylor helped to start a civil war it was against the government of Samuel Doe.

The article also begins discussing the regional conflict with the Sierra Leone war, which began after and was initiated by Taylor, but makes little mention of his activities before then.

Charles Taylor is a frequent figure in numerous 419 scams?
Scams are exactly what the word says. 419 is a section in Nigerian law covering the practice. I have removed this note from article, pending proof: Note: Charles Taylor is a frequent figure in numerous 419 scams. Gregorydavid 14:02, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Al Qaeda links?
According to this article (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0505/27/i_dl.01.html), it is claimed that prosecuters are accusing Taylor of aiding and abetting members of al Qaeda in an effort to destabilize the entire West African region. Worth mentioning, perhaps?
 * Sure; it's probably nonsense, but the accusation is notable. Everyking 10:05, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

AQ offered very high prices for diamonds and asked no questions. Their interactions with Taylor supported his kleptocracy.

419 scam
i've received this mail today: Attn: I am one of the personal financial secretary/investment advicer to president Charles Taylor of Liberia who is presntly in United nation detention in Holland for trial. Dear, pls i need your foreign partnership to assist me invest in your country. I have interest in buying of shares in big companies,corporate orgenizations and real estate management and any other profitable business you may wish to recommend for me. I have with me $8.5M for this project. I realized the fund from sales we made in cash from liberia diamond and timber trades during the administration of president taylor. This money is presently with INTERNATIONAL BANK (LIBERIA) LIMITED My major problem now is the world national court and united nations has also decleared his TEN MAN COMMITEE WANTED WHICH I AM AMONG THEM, for judgement for his past rule to Liberian Government with his ten men commitee. Please view this websits for more proof:::::::::::::::::::::::FOR YOU ALONE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taylor http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4860976.stm http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8936 As soon a s this money is transfered to you, i will come over immediately.send your direct phone number where i can reach for more discussions.pls keep this mail and transaction confidential for security reasons especially for my sake. YOU CAN ALSO CALL ME OR SEND SMS TEXT IMMEDIATELY ON MY PRIVATE NUMBER+234-8060016358. Best regards, Joy Mba.

Thanks for sharing that - those scam letters are often hilarious the way they use English - see the website 419eater.com for lots of other entertaining examples. The fact that Taylor is currently a leading figure in these bogus letters, along with former Nigerian strongman Sami Abcha and Angolan guerrila leader Jonas Savambi could be worth a mention in the 'cultural references' section of this article.

Something else should be made clear:

THE LETTER ABOVE IS A SCAM. THE SENDER IS A FRAUD. DO NOT CONTACT HIM OR SEND HIM MONEY.

I know, you wouldn't do it, nor would anyone with half a brain, but some people are doing it, or these letters would not keep coming out. Whenever one of these letters is reproduced, it should have a warning of some sort attached; sad, but there it is. 76.2.152.124 (talk) 21:52, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Renaming proposal
Since the disambig page has 14 different "Charles Taylor" articles, why does the name go to this one guy? Seems to give him undue precedence. I thus propose renaming this article to "Charles G. Taylor" and renaming the disambig page to "Charles Taylor". Comments? Akradecki 20:38, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
 * No objections, so I've made the move. Akradecki 22:30, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
 * _ _ Moved to Charles Taylor (Liberia). He is virtually always called "Charles Taylor", so the initial is an contrived substitute for explicit disambiguation. Cases like this are what Dab'g is designed to do.
 * _ _ Having Charles Taylor be his article was not as outrageous as your reasoning suggests: English speaking culture has given him substantial precedence over nearly all of the others by talking about him so much. But i for one need some context to know whether the name refers to the warlord or the philosopher, so even tho i suspect Google would show the warlord is far more notable, i have no objection to equal disambiguation. --Jerzy•t 22:48, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Escape from Massachusetts
Many articles discussing Charles Taylor talk about the escape from Massachusetts as being a bit dodgy. They consistantly refer to the possibility of there being assistance from influential Americans interested in removing Doe from power.

I was unable to find a solid reference discussing the issue which would allow the adding of this to the main article.

Mentioned in:
 * http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/charles_taylor.htm
 * http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/africa/2963086.stm
 * http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/07/0725_030725_liberiataylor.html
 * http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=477&language_id=1
 * http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767918916&view=excerpt

Lod 23:39, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Turns out now HE is actually saying the US government helped him escape.
 * http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2009/07/17/liberias_taylor_says_us_arranged_escape/
 * Xmzx (talk) 15:37, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

There is actually proof now that this was US organized, via a Freedom of Information request. See here for details. I would update the artice but my English writing skills aren't so great. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16627628 Potatman (talk) 17:41, 19 January 2012 (UTC)
 * The article that made the claim that FOIA requests showed that Taylor had been invalid with US intelligence has since been retracted. (It did not, anyway, claim that this request showed that his escape had been organized by the US) The correction is quoted below on this page. GabrielF (talk) 19:03, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Extradition and trial of Charles Taylor
I have moved all details to Taylor's trial from the Liberia page to this bio. In case I missed a detail (esp. current) please use this info provided below from the former liberia trial sectoin for correction on his trial. -	In March 2006, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf sent a letter formally requesting the extradition of Charles Taylor from Nigeria to face justice. While Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo confirmed receipt of the request and notified the Chairman of the African Union, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Mamadou Tandja on March 17, 2006, Nigeria’s plans to comply with the request were not immediately clear. After representatives from Liberia and Nigeria met to discuss the issue, Nigeria announced on March 25, 2006 that it would allow Liberian authorities to arrest Taylor. It was long feared that Taylor could easily slip into hiding to escape charges of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and by March 28 Taylor had reportedly disappeared from his Nigerian compound. He was recaptured by alert border guards at dawn on March 29 trying to cross into Cameroon. Taylor was quickly flown to Liberia, where he was shuffled onto a waiting UN helicopter to face charges for crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone (though not in Liberia). The venue for his trial was changed form Sierra Leone to The Hague, and he was flown out of Sierra Leone on June 20, 2006. He has been imprisoned in the Netherlands waiting for his trial which began on 25 June 2007. Taylor initially refused to appear in court, and initially planned to defend himself, but has since appeared and requested lawyers. According to Trial Watch the proceedings have been postponed until January 2008 to allow Taylor's new legal team time to prepare.

Thank you, Kain Nihil 06:14, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Removing apparently plagiarized section
I've just removed the "Charles 'Chuckie' Taylor" section, since it seems to be directly copied-and-pasted from a Dec. 6, 2006 CBS News/AP Story. The material was added the same day the CBS article came out. If someone wants to re-write the section, though, the information does seem relevant. Maybe "Chuckie" should even have his own page? Bencoland (talk) 22:58, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Charles Taylor.jpg
Image:Charles Taylor.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. BetacommandBot (talk) 21:23, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Translation into Chinese Wikipedia
The 02:03, 14 January 2010 173.79.40.214 version of this article is translated into Chinese Wikipedia to expand a stub.--Wing (talk) 19:36, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not Moved, there is no consensus that these articles should be moved GB fan 13:49, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

– The Liberian ex-dictator is by far the best known and most famous person with this name, and the only one to have served as a head of state (and heads of state are more notable than almost any other category of people). D O N D E groovily  Talk to me  14:48, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Charles Taylor (Liberia) → Charles Taylor
 * Charles Taylor → Charles Taylor (disambiguation)
 * Support moves. Charles Taylor of Liberia is especially notable and the move will improve Wikipedia.--TM 17:27, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I would have thought the Canadian philosopher comparably famous, and Google doesn't dissuade me, so I oppose for now. Srnec (talk) 23:31, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Only two of the results in my Google search were the philosopher, and one of those was Wikipedia. One was wiki's disambig and all the rest were the dictator. D O N D E groovily   Talk to me  00:33, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose. The philosopher is at least as notable, having won for example the Templeton Prize. The sometime dictator was head of a minor state only; Many CEOs control more people (and probably more effectively). Yes, web page counts do tend to be biased towards such individuals, unfortunately. It doesn't make this the primary topic overall. Andrewa (talk) 23:59, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I am not sure that the people of Liberia would agree that they are a minor state. I am just going to assume you are from rival Sierra Leone and not furthering your western systematic bias.--TM 01:37, 17 October 2011 (UTC)
 * No personal attacks please. Liberia pop. a little under 4 million, there are currently more than 100 larger countries and some larger cities. I would not like to guess how many heads of state there have been in the history of the world, or how many of them have made bigger headlines, but the suggestion above that all heads of state are more notable than almost any other category of people is almost as ludicrous as your assumption of ethnic bias on my part. Andrewa (talk) 03:33, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

 * Support. The dictator has been in and out of the news since the 90s. Rothorpe (talk) 01:36, 17 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Support. There certainly are a few larger cities than Liberia (though not many, and I doubt there are larger companies). However, no modern CEO or mayor has exerted the kind of influence over the lives of their employees or citizens as Charles Taylor has over his, which was to end them. ("He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him.") I won't argue that all heads of state are by definition more notable than every other category, as many peaceful heads of state came in and left with little fanfare. This particular head of state, however, has made his mark, in blood. The Canadian philosopher, Templeton prize or not, hasn't. (Thank heavens.) --GRuban (talk) 11:55, 17 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose—There are a lot of people with this name. Between all the politicians, the philosopher, the shoe guy, etc, I don't think that the dictator satisfies the "more likely than all the other topics combined" clause of WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. I think the disambiguation we have now might be best. ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 05:43, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Confusing passage
"With the backing of the then-South African president Thabo Mbeki and against the urging of Sierra Leone president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Ghana declined to detain Taylor, who returned to Monrovia."

The use of the term "backing" is very confusing here. Did Mbeki want Taylor detains (he "backed" detainment) or did Mbeki want Taylor released ("He backed Ghana declining to detain him)? D O N D E groovily   Talk to me  14:58, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

CIA involvement
According to www.rawstory.com, and reported by the Boston Globe newspaper, Charles Taylor used to work for the CIA. If this is correct, the article about him should mention this as well. See the link at http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/20/alleged-war-criminal-charles-taylor-worked-for-cia-report/

If there is indeed a link to CIA involvement then this should be linked to given that Taylor is currently standing trial for (alleged) war crimes. 178.190.74.219 (talk) 22:37, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 * The Globe has largely retracted this story, noting:
 * This story drew unsupported conclusions and significantly overstepped available evidence when it described former Liberian President Charles Taylor as having worked with US spy agencies as a “sought-after source.’’ The story, based on a response by the US Defense Intelligence Agency to a long-pending records request from the Globe, described the agency’s response as having “confirmed its agents and CIA agents worked with Taylor beginning in the early 1980s.’’ But the agency offered no such confirmation; rather, it said only that it possessed 48 documents running to 153 pages that fall in the category of what the Globe asked for -- records relating to Taylor and to his relationship, if any, with American intelligence going back to 1982. The agency, however, refused to release the documents and gave no indication of what was in them. One of the grounds for that refusal was suggestive, citing the need to protect “intelligence sources and methods,” but that, by itself, fell well short of a sufficient basis for the published account. There has long been speculation that Taylor had such a role, speculation fueled in part by Taylor’s own suggestion in trial testimony that his 1985 escape from prison in Plymouth, Mass., may have been facilitated by CIA operatives. But Taylor, now standing trial before a UN special court on charges of rape, murder and other offenses, denies he was ever a source for US intelligence. The Globe had no adequate basis for asserting otherwise and the story should not have run in this form.
 * Given this correction, the Globe article should not be used as a source. GabrielF (talk) 19:00, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Should this BBC source be used then? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16627628 222.255.199.27 (talk) 07:39, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
 * No, the BBC source is restating the Globe's claims without doing its own research. GabrielF (talk) 16:14, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Religion
mistake on religion needs clarification or correction - listed as baptist. but is currently jewish.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/04/26/former-liberian-president-convicted-of-war-crimes

"Taylor, a former Baptist who converted to the Jewish faith"Newtonsghost (talk) 18:06, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
 * According to this article (I'm not familiar with the source, so I don't know whether it pass WP:RS), he married polygamously in an Islamic ceremony. Nyttend backup (talk) 21:33, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * He is a Jewish convert Jewish Convert--Inayity (talk) 08:01, 8 June 2012 (UTC)
 * This article (and those cited on the main page) indicate that his wife considers him to be Jewish. However, he does not seem to have succeeded in conversion to Judaism, which requires the approval of a Jewish court (Bais Din).  I have thus edited the page to indicate that he is attempting to convert.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.14.78.196 (talk) 05:13, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
 * This is a theological technicality,(many types of Jews, many ways to convert) his wife is a R.S on his religion, unless you can ask HaShem his wife is a R.S she didnt say She believed she said (and I will quote: He has decided to become a Jew. And he wants to follow the true religion according to him. He wants to know deeply about God," Mrs. Victoria Taylor told BBC radio.Mrs. Taylor said her husband found Judaism only after his trial began."When he got to The Hague, he got to know that he really, really wanted to be a Jew. And he wanted to convert to Judaism. And that's what he has done… He wants to know deeply about God and all about creation, and he wants to serve God accordingly and immediately," she said.http://abcnews.go.com--Inayity (talk) 11:15, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
 * We are not supposed to "speculate" to the "type" of Judaism he converted to. His wife is not an expert on Jewish Faith and did not specify the sect he converted to. She alluded to his belief structure, and that is all we can say. --Inayity (talk) 22:06, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

enlisting children under 15 war crime
In the box with SCSL verdicts, "Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities" is classified as "VIHL" ("Other serious violation of international humanitarian law"). This should be classified as War Crime according to the Rome Statute : In its definition of war crimes the statute includes "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" (Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi)) in international armed conflict; and in the case of an internal armed conflict, "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities" (Article 8(2)(e)(vii)).

Source: http://www.child-soldiers.org/international_standards.php 157.150.192.237 (talk) 15:18, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

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"Messianic Judaism"
Not sure if this term applies to converts who don't abandon every aspect of Christianity. Messianic Jews are Jews who convert to Christianity without scrapping all Jewish tradition, while Taylor appears to be doing the exact opposite. If he intends to practice both religions simultaneously, I don't think there's a good term for that. Suggestions? --Mikrobølgeovn (talk) 20:19, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

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text:
NID

Nid or NID may refer to:

Science

 * Nidogen-1, an extracellular protein
 * Neuronal intestinal dysplasia, a condition involving abnormalities with the nerves supplying the bowel

Telecommunications

 * Namespace Identifier, part of a Uniform Resource Name
 * Network interface device, in telecommunications, providing demarcation between carrier and customer wiring

Organizations

 * Naval Intelligence Department (Royal Navy), the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty from 1887 until 1912
 * National Institute of Cultural Heritage, a Polish governmental institution
 * National Institutes of Design, a group of Indian public design universities
 * National Institute of Design, the primary institute, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
 * National Institute of Design, Andhra Pradesh, design school in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
 * National Institute of Design, Madhya Pradesh, design school in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
 * National Institute of Design, Haryana, design school in Kurukshetra, Haryana
 * National Institute of Design, Assam, design school in Jorhat, Assam
 * Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom), of the British Admiralty, prior to 1965
 * Naval Intelligence Division (Israel), a staff unit in the Israeli navy headquarters
 * National Investigation Department of Nepal, an intelligence agency of Nepal
 * NID (Stargate), a fictional secret government organization in the television series Stargate SG-1
 * Nieuport-Delage, an aircraft company from the 1920s and 1930s

Places

 * The Nidelva or Nid River in Trondheim, Norway
 * Nevada Irrigation District, in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, organized to supply irrigation water

Other

 * National Inventory of Dams, an American database documenting dams in the United States and its territories
 * Nieuwe Intercity Dubbeldekker, the renovated NS DD-AR train
 * Nimzo-Indian Defence, a chess opening
 * Srettha Thavisin (born 1962), nicknamed Nid, Prime Minister of Thailand

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: NID


text:
Stephen Sommers

Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for big-budget action films, such as The Mummy (1999), its sequel, The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). He also directed The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994) and the cult classic horror film Deep Rising (1998).

Early life
Stephen Sommers was born in Indianapolis, and grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he attended St. Cloud Apollo High School. He is a graduate of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the University of Seville in Spain. After graduating, he spent four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout Europe. He eventually returned to the United States and moved to Los Angeles, where he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts for three years, earning a master's degree and writing and directing the award-winning short film Perfect Alibi.

Career
Perfect Alibi helped Sommers acquire independent funding to write and direct his first feature film, the teen racing film Catch Me If You Can, filmed for $800,000 on location in his hometown of St. Cloud. The film was sold at the Cannes Film Festival for $7 million and later debuted on video in the United States.

Almost four years later, broke and in danger of having his house repossessed, he wrote and directed an adaptation of Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Huck Finn for Walt Disney Pictures, as well as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He later wrote the screenplays for Gunmen and Tom and Huck, which he also executive produced for Disney (along with a TV version of Oliver Twist in 1997 starring Richard Dreyfuss and Elijah Wood), and worked as a staff writer at Hollywood Pictures. While there, he worked on a script called Tentacle, which he later directed under the title Deep Rising in 1998.

In 1999, he wrote and directed Universal Studios' big-budget remake of The Mummy. The film was a smash hit, and Sommers received two Saturn Awards nominations for Best Director and Best Writer in 2000 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. A successful sequel, The Mummy Returns, followed two years later, and he also co-wrote and produced 2002's The Scorpion King, a prequel/spin-off of The Mummy Returns.

In 2004, Sommers founded his own company (along with editor/producing partner Bob Ducsay), The Sommers Company, and returned to theater screens with Van Helsing, a film pitting legendary vampire hunter Gabriel Van Helsing against the triumvirate of Universal movie monsters: Count Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster. Before Van Helsing even premiered, Sommers and Ducsay began developing a spin-off TV series for NBC called Transylvania. Though featuring none of the characters from the film, the series (which was to have made use of the film's Prague set) was about a young cowboy from Texas who becomes a sheriff in Transylvania, has many strange adventures, and encounters many strange creatures. Sommers and Ducsay were to have been executive producers, and Sommers wrote scripts for the pilot and first several episodes, but NBC decided not to go through with the show.

Since Van Helsing, Sommers has been attached to a number of projects. He was originally set to direct Night at the Museum, but dropped out due to creative differences. He was also attached to a remake of When Worlds Collide (to be executive produced by Steven Spielberg), a new big-screen adaptation of Flash Gordon, a swashbuckling adventure film called Airborn based on the novel Airborn, a romantic/adventure story called Big Love, and a remake of the French film Les Victimes. Sommers opted out of directing the third Mummy film, titled The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, instead becoming one of its producers.

Sommers directed Paramount Pictures' 2009 live-action adaptation of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and also served as a producer. Around that time, he was developing a Tarzan adaptation for Warner Bros. but left the project. His most recent film, Odd Thomas, had been delayed from release due to lawsuits against the production company, but was eventually released.

Film
Producer
 * The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
 * The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008) (Uncredited)

Executive producer
 * Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004) (Short film)
 * The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012)
 * The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (2015)
 * The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018)

title: Stephen Sommers


text:
RRS Discovery

RRS Discovery is a barque-rigged auxiliary steamship built in Dundee, Scotland for Antarctic research. Launched in 1901, she was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in the United Kingdom. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, and highly successful, journey to the Antarctic, known as the Discovery Expedition.

After service as a merchant ship before and during the First World War, Discovery was taken into the service of the British government in 1923 to carry out scientific research in the Southern Ocean, becoming the first Royal Research Ship. The ship undertook a two-year expedition – the Discovery Investigations – recording valuable information on the oceans, marine life and being the first scientific investigation into whale populations. From 1929 to 1931 Discovery served as the base for the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) under Douglas Mawson. This was a major scientific and territorial quest in what is now the Australian Antarctic Territory.

On her return from the BANZARE, Discovery was moored in London as a static training ship and visitor attraction until 1979. That year she was placed in the care of the Maritime Trust as a museum ship. In 1986 she was moved to Dundee, the city where she was built. After an extensive restoration, Discovery is now the centrepiece of a visitor attraction in the city. She is one of only two surviving expedition ships from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, the other being the Norwegian ship Fram. The ARA Uruguay, which survives and sailed in the Antarctic in 1903, is excluded from this group, as it was not built specifically for Antarctic Exploration.

Design and construction
With increasing scientific and political attention being turned to the uncharted continent of Antarctica during the late 19th century, numerous proposals arose for a British-mounted expedition to the continent. The Royal Navy had been something of a pioneer with Antarctic exploration, mounting the Ross expedition in 1839 which discovered the Ross Ice Shelf. Attention had turned northward to the Arctic and attempts to reach the North Pole. The RN mounted the British Arctic Expedition in 1874.

Towards the turn of the century, there was increasing pressure for a similar expedition to the southern polar region. The British government and the Admiralty stopped short of organising a government expedition but agreed to partially fund a project led by the two main interested scientific organisations, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society. The Admiralty would provide practical support in designing and crewing a purpose-built ship for the expedition, while the ship would be owned by the RGS.

Early discussions on building a dedicated polar exploration ship considered replicating Fridtjof Nansen's ship Fram, but that vessel was designed specifically for working through the pack ice of the Arctic. The British ship would have to cross thousands of miles of open ocean before reaching the Antarctic, so a more conventional design was chosen. In charge of her overall design was W.E. Smith, one of the senior naval architects at the Admiralty. The ship's engine, boilers and other machinery were designed by Fleet Engineer Philip Marrack.

Smith borrowed many elements of his design from the Bloodhound, a Dundee-built whaling ship taken into Royal Navy service as HMS Discovery for the Arctic Expedition. By 1900 few shipyards in the United Kingdom had the capability to build wooden ships of the size needed – only two shipbuilders submitted bids for the contract. The designers deemed it essential that the ship be made from wood, both for strength and ease of repair, and to reduce magnetic interference from a steel hull. They wanted to gain the most accurate navigation and surveying.

The main compass was mounted perfectly amidships, and there were to be no steel or iron fittings within 30 ft of this point. The original cushions for the wardroom (just aft and below the main bridge) were changed when it was found they included steel-backed buttons. Similarly some of the wardroom cabins fell within this area, and their occupants had to sleep on mattresses stuffed with horsehair. Others located at a distance had more modern types of mattresses with steel springs inside. For the same reason of navigation, the boilers and engine were mounted towards the stern of the ship, a feature which also provided maximum space for equipment and provisions. A special laboratory for taking magnetic field measurements was provided below the bridge.

The ship committee considered having the ship built in Norway by Framnæs, the yard which would later build Endurance. But supporters believed that the British government's money should be spent at a British yard. The new Discovery was built by the Dundee Shipbuilders Company, which primarily made smaller vessels such as trawlers, tugboats and steam yachts. The yard was previously owned by Alexander Stephen and Sons and had built the Terra Nova, purchased by Scott for his last expedition, in 1884. The committee responsible for the ship's construction offered a separate tender for her boilers, engine and auxiliary machinery in an effort to reduce costs. Dundee Shipbuilders also won that order, but sub-contracted the work to Gourlay Brothers, another Dundee engineering firm.

The ship cost £34,050 to build, plus another £10,322 to be fitted with engines and machinery, and more than £6000 for other equipment and fittings. The total cost for the Discovery was £51,000, equivalent to £4.1m in modern currency. Much of the detail work of fitting out the ship's interior spaces, scientific equipment and provisions was overseen directly by Scott and the ship's newly appointed engineer Reginald Skelton.

Discovery was fitted with a 450-horsepower coal-fired triple expansion steam engine, but had to rely primarily on sail because the coal bunkers did not have sufficient capacity to take the ship on long voyages. At her economical cruising speed of 6 knots, Discovery carried enough coal for only 7700 nmi of steaming; the voyage to New Zealand covered over 12,000 nmi. At 8 knots, she could steam only 5100 nmi.

The ship was considered to be a sailing vessel with auxiliary steam propulsion: when first registered in 1900 Discovery was classified as a sailing ship. Her legal owners were the Royal Geographical Society. As its president, Sir Clements Markham, was a member of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, Discovery was registered as a private sailing yacht of the RHYC. She carried the official name and prefix 'S.Y. Discovery'. She flew the RHYC's burgee, the emblem of the RGS as a house flag, and the Blue Ensign throughout her first expedition.

She was rigged as a barque (the fore- and mainmasts being square rig and the mizzen mast carrying a fore-aft sail), and the total maximum sail area was 12296 sqft. Following the practice of the most modern sailing ships of the time, the windjammers, she carried split topsails to reduce the size of the deck crew needed to handle them. Her spars and sails on the foremast and mainmast were identical to reduce the amount of spares carried and allow easier repairs.

The ship was rigged to carry several large staysails. The funnel was hinged at the base so it could be laid on the deck when the mizzen staysail was rigged once at sea. The Discovery was marginally faster under sail than she was under engine power – her record for distance travelled in 24 hours is 223 nmi, equivalent to 9.2 knots.

The ship has a massively built wooden hull designed to withstand being frozen into pack ice and resist crushing. At the time of her launch, Discovery was widely held to be the strongest wooden ship ever built. The hull frames, placed much closer together than was normal, were made of solid sections of oak up to 11 in thick. The outer hull was formed from two layers – one 6 in thick and an outer skin some 5 in thick.

A third lining was laid inside the frames, forming a double bottom and skin around almost the entire hull. This meant that in places the hull was over 2 ft thick, providing not only formidable strength but excellent insulation against the cold. The construction made it impossible to install portholes (and fitting them would have weakened the hull), so the crew relied on 'mushroom vents' on the deck to allow air and light into the interior.

The wood used for the planking varied depending on where in the ship it was laid and what structural purpose it served: the inner layer is Scots pine while the 6 in skin is made of pitch pine, Honduras mahogany or oak. The outer hull is made of English elm and Greenheart. Oak beams run across the hull forming three decks – the lower deck beams are 11 in square in cross-section and are placed less than 3 ft apart along the ship's length. Seven transverse bulkheads, also of wood, provide additional strength and ensured that any ice damage would not flood the entire ship.

To prevent damage from ice floes or crushing, the two-blade propeller could be hoisted out of the way and the rudder could be easily detached and stored aboard. A second rudder and spare propeller blades were carried, and the ship could be steered by use of her sails if her rudder or steering gear was completely disabled. Iron-shod bows were severely raked so that when ramming the ice, they would ride up over the margin and crush the ice with deadweight.

The coal bunkers on each side contained a steel compartment, each of which could hold 60 tons of fresh water. These would be filled on the long ocean trip to and from New Zealand but for the Antarctic expedition the extra coal capacity was more important as ice and snow could be melted each day to provide water, so the tanks would be filled with coal. The metal tanks also contributed to the strength of the lower hull around the boiler and engine spaces.

On 16 March 1900, in the context of significant donations to the approaching expedition by patrons Llewellyn W. Longstaff and the British Government, construction on the Discovery began in Dundee, Scotland, by the Dundee Shipbuilders Company. She was launched into the Firth of Tay on 21 March 1901 by Lady Markham, the wife of Sir Clements Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society.

British National Antarctic Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition departed the UK less than five months after the Discovery was launched and only a week after the ship left Dundee. With limited time between the ship's launch and her departure for Antarctica there was limited time for sea trials. Her speed under steam was tested and proved better than expected – her averaged maximum speed during trials was 9 knots instead of the planned 8 knots. Without a full crew available and short of time neither her builders nor Scott were able to test her performance or handling under sail.

Much of her equipment was also untested, so the long voyage to New Zealand, made via Madeira and Cape Town, would also be the new vessel's shakedown cruise. Before reaching London from Dundee a leak was found from her stern around the rudder post. There was no time to dry dock the ship for a full repair, with Skelton having to make do with applying extra caulking.

The ship was berthed in London loading supplies and equipment until July 1901, when she sailed to Cowes on the Isle of Wight where she anchored during August. In this time she served as the yacht of the RGS during Cowes Week and was toured by several dignitaries, culminating in a visit by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on 5 August. The expedition left from Cowes the next day, 6 August 1901.

Scott's first impression of the ship was poor, considering her slow and unresponsive while the shallow hull, built with no protuberances to work well in ice, provided minimal stability. Discovery rolled heavily once in the open sea (she was recorded rolling through 94 degrees – 47 degrees either side of vertical- in the Southern Ocean) and tended to 'gripe' (a strong tendency to turn up into the wind). Shackleton described the ship as a bad sailer, carrying too much sail aft and not enough forward while Scott also worried that the design of the ship's hull was unsuitable for work in pack ice.

But once the expedition reached the Roaring Forties the ship proved to have excellent seakeeping and, because she was heavy and carried relatively little sail area for her size, she could make good progress in high winds and heavy seas without having to reef. The Discovery's unusual rounded, overhanging stern (one of the main changes from the original Bloodhound design) not only provided more protection for the rudder but also prevented all but the largest following seas breaking over the back of the ship and kept the decks dry, although the stern was prone to 'slamming' into waves, making the officers' accommodation and wardroom noisy.

The expedition travelled to New Zealand via Madeira and Cape Town for resupplying. The ship was put in dry dock for the first time at Lyttelton and the carpenter, Frederick Dailey, prepared a lengthy report detailing the numerous empty bolt holes and slack hull fittings he found. 6 ft depth of water had seeped into the ship's bilges and lower hold through badly-sealed joints in the planking. While these were repaired there was considerable dispute between the RGS and Dundee Shipbuilders as to who was responsible for the defects, but the Discovery left for the Antarctic on 21 December 1901, after three weeks in New Zealand.

The Antarctic coastline was sighted on 8 January 1902. During the first month Scott began charting the coastline. Then, in preparation for the winter, he anchored in McMurdo Sound in a bay sheltered from the prevailing west wind by the Hut Point Peninsula. The Discovery was moored directly to the ice shelf by anchors and Scott used explosives to blow away part of the shelf so the ship could be protected on three sides.

On 8 February Discovery was surrounded by pack ice on all sides. The expedition divided itself between the ship and the shore, with Discovery being used for accommodation and the prefabricated hut, intended to be the expedition's winter living quarters, was used as a laboratory. Although surrounded by ice the ship was not yet frozen in. In increasingly strong gales the ship would bump, slam and grind against the ice shelf but her strong multi-layered wooden hull withstood the forces which would have ripped open a conventional ship.

By the end of March Discovery was fully frozen into the ice-covered sound. The ship would remain there, locked in ice, for the next two years; the expedition had expected to spend the winter there and to move on in the spring. Despite this, the ship's routine and work continued through the Antarctic winter. The Expedition was able to determine that Antarctica was indeed a continent, and they were able to relocate the South magnetic pole. Scott, Shackleton and Edward Wilson also achieved a Furthest South of 82 degrees 18 minutes.

Discovery proved to be a superb accommodation vessel. The only recurring complaint was that the officers' cabins were extremely cold. They were placed amidships either side of the wardroom and above the boilers and coal bunkers. Once the boilers were extinguished the unheated and deep-frozen mass of coal in the bunkers made it hard to keep heat in the rooms. Ice frequently formed on the cabin walls and Scott reported that, sat at his desk, he had to have his feet in a box of straw to keep warm.

In January 1903 the Morning, commanded by William Colbeck, arrived in McMurdo Sound with extra supplies for the expedition. It was hoped (by both the expedition in Antarctic and the organisers in London) that Discovery would be freed as the ice broke up in the Antarctic summer, allowing her to continue her voyage. But she remained icebound, and the ship and her crew had to overwinter for a second year as the Morning left in March.

Another land expedition was organised over the spring of 1903, with Scott again confident that a second summer would allow Discovery to leave the Sound. In January 1904 a second relief expedition, commanded again by Colbeck, arrived consisting of the Morning and the Terra Nova, with orders to extract the entire expedition and abandon Discovery if the ship was not free of the ice by 25 February.

The two relief ships slowly broke a path through the ice while Scott organised work parties at the Discovery to use saws and pickaxes to cut the ice away from the hull. However, by 10 February the research ship was still locked in the ice and the relief ships were 2 mi from the beleaguered ship. Scott began evacuating his equipment and samples from Discovery in preparation to abandon her but on 16 February 1904 the ice suddenly began to break up. After carrying out a number of controlled explosions with dynamite Discovery was freed from the pack and soon afterwards the relief ships were able to draw alongside.

Fifty tons of coal was transferred from the Terra Nova, which had carried extra fuel for the purpose, and the captain of the Morning gave an extra 25 tons. Steam began to be raised on the Discovery on 17 February but before the ship was fully prepared for sea a gale blew up. The ship dragged at her anchor and only just had enough pressure in her boilers to prevent her being blown back onto the ice shelf which had provided her shelter for two years.

Scott attempted to round Hut Point in the teeth of the gale at 11 am on a slight ebb tide but the ship grounded on an uncharted shoal. Attempts were made to force the ship ahead over the obstruction and back her off but the engine lacked the power and the water intakes for her condenser became blocked by ice and churned-up dirt. The ship spent nearly ten hours aground, being bodily slammed and pounded into the ground by the action of the waves and wind.

The captains of the relief ships stood by in preparation for a rescue and the crew feared that their ship would be at best dismasted and at worst split apart. Scott described that evening as "truly the most dreadful" he had spent during the expedition. At 3 am on 18 February the wind moderated, the tide turned and the ship began to slide astern off the shoal under her own weight. Once the stern was afloat the water intakes were cleared and the engine was able to pull the bow off. Inspections showed that Discovery had come through the ordeal almost entirely without damage, losing only some of her external sheathing of greenheart and incurring some minor damage to the rudder. By dawn the ship was clear of the land.

The extra coal taken on from the relief ships meant that Scott didn't have to take a direct route back to New Zealand, instead proceeding north via Cape North and the Balleny Islands, a route which also proved the non-existence of land charted by the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840. Off Cape Adare the damaged rudder broke free and the spare had to be fitted.

The three ships regrouped at the Auckland Islands and docked at Lyttelton on 1 April. Discovery then headed east following the clipper route back to the UK, taking some oceanographic soundings and searching for the 'phantom' Dougherty Island as she did so. After passing through the Strait of Magellan she stopped at the Falkland Islands to make magnetic surveys. Discovery arrived back at Spithead on 10 September 1904, 1131 days after her departure.

Cargo vessel
The British National Antarctic Expedition was acclaimed upon its return but was also in serious financial trouble, and so in 1905, Discovery was sold to the Hudson's Bay Company for £10,000 (a fifth of her original build cost) which used her as a cargo vessel between London and Hudson Bay, Canada. The HBC heavily remodelled the ship for her new purpose, stripping all the accommodation and other rooms below her weather deck in order to maximise cargo space. Features such as her lifting propeller, dredging winches and her original galley stove were removed and sold. The ship's officers were now accommodated in the deckhouses which had housed the ship's laboratories and scientific storerooms while the crew berthed in the focsle.

Discovery made an annual transatlantic trip for the HBC between 1905 and 1911 carrying food, fuel, building materials and gunpowder from London to Charlton Island in Canada (near the HBC's large depot at Moose Factory). The ship was laden with the season's haul of fur hides for the return voyage. Each round trip took around two months and was made in the summer, although the ship often still had to break through ice in the Davis and Hudson Straights.

From the 1912 season Discovery and the other HBC ship, the Pelican, were replaced by a brand new and much larger steam-powered icebreaker, the Nascopie, and the vessel was laid up in London. In October 1913 she was sold for £9,500 to Joseph Foster Stackhouse, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society who was planning another research expedition to Antarctica. Stackhouse paid the HBC a £1000 initial deposit on the ship but was unable to raise the funds to pay the balance.

During and after World War I
The start of the First World War saw the planned expedition postponed and Stackhouse died in the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915, while returning from a fundraising trip to New York City. Following Stackhouse's death the HBC kept his £1000 deposit to cover the interim costs of maintaining Discovery.

The following month she was drydocked and re-rigged at the cost of £55 as part of a scheme financed and run by the HBC to carry wartime supplies from around the world to France – Discovery would be one of around 300 ships chartered via 6600 contracts under the scheme (she was Steamer #141), managed by a specially-formed shell company called the Bay Steamship Company. Discovery sailed from London bound for New York in April but had to put in at Falmouth due to a large leak around her rudder.

The journey took 27 days in bad weather and the ship was found to be in poor condition with many leaking deck seams and a number of mechanical failures. Her eastbound trip was made to La Rochelle carrying caustic soda, sacking and corduroy. More leaks occurred, flooding the cabins and store rooms. Some of her timbers were found to have dry rot and her condenser failed, requiring sea water to be used in her boilers which then needed repairs.

Another refit and repair was made in Swansea in August 1915 and then the ship sailed for Arkhangelsk via the French ports of Nantes, Bordeaux and Brest. Her cargo was 500 tons of French munitions being carried to support the Russian Empire, with Arkhangelsk on the White Sea being the only Russian port in European waters free of German blockade.

The voyage via North Cape brought up more examples of the ship's poor condition as she suffered further leaks and rigging damage. Her return cargo was 557 barrels of methanol, which she carried to Le Havre. Discovery's infamous roll in heavy seas caused some damage to the barrels and her lack of a dedicated cargo deck hatch meant that loading and unloading took much longer than in a purpose-made cargo vessel.

In 1916, Discovery was loaned to the British government to rescue Shackleton's party marooned on Elephant Island. Discovery was refitted in Plymouth and departed on 11 August 1916. Due to the ship's notoriously slow speed she was towed by the collier Polesley until she reached the favourable trade winds. With the First World War still raging, the tow was escorted by two Royal Navy destroyers.

Just four weeks after leaving the UK Discovery reached Montevideo, to learn that Shackleton had effected his crew's own rescue in the Yelcho while Discovery was en route. In order to cover some of the costs of the abortive voyage, Discovery took on a cargo of 5943 sacks of wheat at commercial carriage rates for her return voyage. She returned to Plymouth in November where she was handed back to the HBC. She sailed to Lorient where she unloaded the cargo of grain.

Between January 1917 and March 1918 Discovery carried cargo along the French coast of the Bay of Biscay between Brest and Bayonne. She was released from convoy duty back to the HBC in April 1918 and in June made her last transatlantic voyage, sailing from Cardiff to Charlton Island via Montreal. She twice became stuck in ice in the Hudson Straight near Cape Chidley and Charles Island.

Her condition was such that she was not permitted to carry the valuable furs on the eastbound voyage, taking them only as far as Newfoundland in special wrappings to protect them from water leaks. With a cargo of general goods loaded at St John's, Discovery arrived back at Liverpool in January 1919. Between then and July that year she made further coastal voyages along the French Atlantic coast, through the English Channel to Antwerp.

In July 1919, Discovery was taken up again by the British government for another voyage to Russia, this time in support of the White Russians in the Russian Civil War. With the Red Army in control of Russia's major northeastern cities and ports, the only supply route was via ports on the Black Sea. Discovery departed from Kingston upon Hull and travelled to Gibraltar and across the Mediterranean Sea, reached Istanbul in late August and passed through the Dardanelles and docked at Novorossiysk in September. Here she transferred cargo from another HBC supply ship on the same run (Pelican) and proceeded to Rostov-on-Don, which she reached on 6 October.

A three-week wait for cargo followed before Discovery was loaded with a cargo of nearly 4000 barrels of cement. This was taken to Piraeus (reached on 1 December) and then the ship returned to Istanbul where she loaded a general cargo including bags of nuts, linseed, rugs and carpets, caviar, mohair and copper sheet. She departed for London in mid-February 1920 and refuelled at Gibraltar on 28 February. She unloaded at the East India Docks in London in mid-March.

The progress of the conflict in Russia meant that no further voyages were possible. A slump in the shipping business and the purchase of new, more modern ships by the HBC meant that Discovery was surplus to requirements. She spent a month moored to a buoy in the Thames at Deptford while she was offered for charter but in June was laid up in the South West India Dock. All her equipment was removed to be stored or sold while her machinery was preserved in a layer of grease.

She was still at her berth in South West India Dock in early 1922 when the HBC agreed to loan the ship as a temporary headquarters for the 16th Stepney Sea Scouts.

Discovery investigations

In 1923 her fortunes were revived when the Colonial Office of the British government purchased her for further research work. The Hudson's Bay Company sold Discovery for £5000 and retained a right of first refusal to re-purchase the ship if she was sold in order to prevent a rival firm using her to compete on the Canadian fur trade. The government had bought the vessel to mount long-term projects investigating, charting and analysing the whale populations of the Southern Ocean.

Discovery underwent a £114,000 refit at Vosper & Company which amounted to a rebuilding to put right years of wear and tear and equip the ship for her new purpose. Much of the cost was borne by the Government of the Falkland Islands as the territory was increasingly dependent on whaling for its economy and the voyage would provide essential information on the location, size and management of the whale stocks. Because of this, ownership of the Discovery was vested in the Falkland Islands executive council and her port of registration was changed from London to Port Stanley. Now in the official service of the British government she was also designated as a Royal Research Ship.

Because her new role would require many thousands of miles of open-ocean travel, changes were made to improve Discovery's handling and sailing performance. As suggested by Scott and Shackleton in 1900 her fore- and mainmasts were moved forward (by 4 and 8 ft respectively) to make her more balanced and steady on a course while new yards and the addition of split topgallant sails increased her sail area by 20 percent to improve her speed. As built the ship's helm was positioned near the stern and connected to the rudder via chains, while the ship was conned from the bridge forward of the mainmast, creating communication problems between those commanding the ship and those actually steering it.

In her refit a second wheel was positioned on the bridge, operating the rudder via a newly fitted steam-powered steering engine. The original helm and steering gear was retained as an emergency system. All three of her hull skins were extensively re-planked and parts of her keel were replaced with new sections of imported Quebec oak, it proving impossible to obtain English oak of the required shape, size and strength. New cabins and other rooms were built both below deck and in deckhouses. These included biological and chemical laboratories, a library, a darkroom and new cabins and other facilities, including a new wardroom.

The ship was fitted with several winches for handling sounding lines and deep-water trawling nets with cables totalling thousands of fathoms in length, plus an early electronic echo sounder. This allowed the ship to not only chart the depth of the ocean as she travelled but recover samples of the seabed, seawater and specimens of deep-sea fish. She was fitted with electric lighting powered by both a steam generator and a paraffin engine for use when under sail and also now boasted a refrigerated store for fresh provisions. She carried four motorboats of various sizes. In her new form she was re-registered as a steamship.

Stanley Wells Kemp was appointed the project's director of research while Joseph Stenhouse, veteran of the drift of the Aurora, was made captain of Discovery. The ship left Portsmouth in July 1925. The final aspects of the refit and trials had been rushed in order to reach the Southern Ocean before the start of the whaling season in November, which led to a number of faults developing in the ship as she sailed through the Bay of Biscay and she had to put into Dartmouth for repairs and modifications which took two months.

She made her final departure on 24 September and reached Cape Town on 20 December, having stopped only at Ascension Island. She resupplied and took on cargo and mail to be delivered to Tristan da Cunha on her way to South Georgia. During all her movements beyond this point Discovery stopped regularly to take oceanographic surveys which could take up to six hours to complete at each pre-set position.

The ship reached South Georgia on 20 February and was based there for two months while her crew of scientists and seamen worked alongside the whalers, both on shore at Grytviken and at sea, examining the remains of the caught and processed whales and observing their numbers and movements. Discovery herself made hydrographic and oceanographic surveys of the seas around South Georgia and surveys of the poorly-charted island itself and its wildlife were also made.

Due to her delayed departure from Britain these voyages were made in the depths of the South Atlantic winter and the ship's excessive roll, high windage and limited engine power all caused difficulties in her work. On 17 April 1926, Discovery left Grytviken and sailed for the Falkland Islands before returning to Cape Town on 29 June, having taken five weeks to make the eastbound voyage in heavy seas while carrying out her research work.

The difficulties encountered led to Discovery being placed in dry dock at the Simon's Town naval base for three months to be fitted with bilge keels to improve her stability. For the same reason her foremast topgallant and all the yards and topmasts on the mainmast were removed to reduce the weight she carried high up and 'stiffen' the ship. Her donkey boiler, mounted in the forecastle, was removed for the same reason.

For the next season of work Discovery was joined by the British government's brand new purpose-built research steamer, RRS William Scoresby. She returned to South Georgia on 15 December, with her crew finding the alterations had greatly improved her seakeeping and reduced the pronounced roll. She carried out a plankton survey of the surrounding seas until February 1927, when she headed to the South Shetland Islands, where she carried out a programme to 'tag' whales in order to track their movements.

In March Discovery visited Deception Island, which at the time served as a natural harbour to eight large factory ships for further studies. During the southern winter the ship travelled down the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, carrying out surveys to draw and correct nautical charts. Discovery Sound was explored and surveyed for the first time and was named after the ship. She was at Cape Renard on 24 March, before working back north to Deception Island, still taking regular oceanographic surveys and biological samples.

Discovery was the first ship to take oceanographic readings in the stormy and dangerous Drake Passage, including one survey station just a few miles off Cape Horn. This sequence provided the missing data to construct the first complete view of the Antarctic currents. After anchoring off the Hermite Islands and transiting the Le Maire Strait, Discovery anchored at Port Stanley on 6 May 1927.

A final surveying trip was made back to Cape Town before the expedition's work was concluded and Discovery sailed for Britain. She arrived at Falmouth on 29 September 1927. Sidney Frederic Harmer called the voyage "the most important scientific expedition that has left our shores since the time of the Challenger."

BANZARE
While Discovery was in the Southern Ocean, the 1926 Imperial Conference considered the question of British imperial sovereignty in Antarctica. At the time only two territories in the Antarctic were formally part of the British Empire – the Falkland Islands and the Ross Dependency. The conference identified seven other parts of the continent, totalling over 3 million square miles (8 million square kilometres) which could be claimed by Britain on the grounds of first-discovery.

With the increasing economic and strategic importance of Antarctica and its waters, it was deemed vital that the British claim be formalised. An expedition would be sent with officers authorised to claim land in the government's name while also carrying out further surveying, exploration and scientific work. The expedition would be the joint responsibility of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, thus becoming the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, frequently abbreviated to BANZARE.

The Australian government was to be in charge of the practical aspects of the expedition, under the leadership of the Australian National Research Council. The ANRC identified Discovery as the only suitable vessel to accommodate the expedition. The ship was still under the control of the committee for the Discovery Investigations and owned by the government of the Falkland Islands, who were initially reluctant to part with the ship as their work was still ongoing.

When the Norvegia expedition annexed Bouvet Island for Norway in December 1927, political pressure meant that it was swiftly arranged for Discovery to be leased to Australia free of charge. Antarctic veteran Douglas Mawson was appointed leader of the BANZARE, and he assigned John King Davis, of Shackleton's Nimrod expedition and Mawson's own Australasian Antarctic Expedition as captain of Discovery.

Discovery left London on 1 August 1929, carrying a complement of 25 officers and men, some scientific equipment and a partially-dismantled de Havilland DH.60 Moth light aircraft on her deck, which was to be used for aerial survey work. After loading with coal and further supplies in Cardiff, the ship headed into the Atlantic to follow the clipper route to Cape Town, where Mawson and the scientific staff (most of whom were Australian) would join the ship.

Like Scott, and despite the vessel's modifications made during the 1923 rebuilding, Davis was not initially impressed with Discovery as a sailing vessel, finding her sluggish and awkward in the light winds of the Doldrums and often being unable to point closer than 75 degrees off the wind. He also struggled with the inexperience of the crew, with none of the officers and (despite his efforts) few of the crew having experience in ocean-going sailing ships.

As with her previous captains, Davis' opinion of the ship changed as they reached the strong winds of the higher latitudes. In a gale on 1 October Discovery was able to carry all her sail and was logged as travelling at 10 knots. The ship reached Cape Town on 5 October, making the journey in three days less than she had on her maiden voyage under Scott.

Preparations for the expedition proper included (following Stenhouse's experiences in the same waters) removing all the yards from the ship's mainmast and taking down the fore topgallant yards and storing them on the deck to both reduce the centre of gravity, lessen the roll and hopefully improve performance when steaming. Two new boats, including a motor-whaler, were added to the ship, as well as 40 tons of food and supplies, a library of 100 books, 2000 cases of scientific equipment and over 300 tons of coal.

The twelve scientists, including zoologists, biologists, an ornithologist, a cartographer and a hydrologist, as well as veteran Antarctic photographer Frank Hurley, also joined the ship here. Discovery departed Cape Town on 19 October and called at Île de la Possession, the Kerguelen Islands and Heard Island – the latter reached on 26 November, with parties going ashore to study the wildlife and carry out geographical surveys at each location. The weather was nearly perpetually stormy and after leaving Heard Island the ship was pummelled by three days of continuous gale.

The weather calmed as they headed south and on 8 December Discovery reached the Antarctic ice field and entered the pack ice three days later. The ship continued to work through dense field ice, heavily populated by penguins and seals. The aircraft, fitted as a seaplane was used for scouting and survey work, becoming the first aircraft to be operated in Antarctica. Oceanographic work and trawls of sealife at various depths were made at regular intervals.

A flight on 1 January 1930, with Mawson on board, sighted new land and mountains, which were named Mac. Robertson Land. Davis refused to draw the ship near enough for a landing – an attitude that would be a regular source of conflict between the captain and Mawson. On 4 January, the ship reached Kemp Land, confirming its presence as it had been unseen since its initial discovery in the 1830s. On 12 January Discovery sighted Enderby Land. The first landfall was made the next day, with the Union Jack being planted on Proclamation Island by Mawson.

Two days later Discovery encountered her fellow expedition ship, the Norvegia, still engaged in similar exploratory and territorial work on behalf of Norway. Mawson had been sent regular wireless messages informing of his rival's whereabouts. The Norwegian leader, Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, was received aboard Discovery. The longitude of the meeting – 44°38′E – became the boundary between the subsequent Australian and Norwegian territorial claims.

After the ships had parted Discovery was swept 150 miles to the west before a fierce storm, once again impressing those aboard with her seaworthiness. Captain Davis was beginning to worry about his coal supplies, leading to more disagreements with Mawson who refused to let up on the expedition's scientific work which added greatly to the fuel consumption and distance travelled.

Working back eastwards, the expedition surveyed and photographed Cape Ann and confirmed it to be the headland recorded by John Biscoe in 1831. Unknown to the BANZARE crew, the Norwegians had also made aerial photographs of the same point and had reached the same conclusion just a few weeks before. With Davis still refusing to risk the ship close inshore, Mawson made a flight over Enderby Land on 25 January and dropped a second flag 3 mi inland.

The next day Davis informed Mawson that there were only 120 tons of coal left in Discovery's bunkers and that they had to turn for home. Mawson felt that they should stay until they were down to 80 tons given that, despite the removal of some of her yards and rigging, Discovery was still fully capable of voyaging under sail. Davis was backed up by W. Griggs, his engineer, who felt that the boilers would need cleaning within three weeks.

Reluctantly Mawson agreed to head north. Some oceanographic work was carried out on the return voyage to the Kerguelen Islands, where 190 tons of coal were taken aboard and the boilers washed out. Severe weather meant that Mawson had to abandon his plans for a cruise to Queen Mary Land and instead Discovery carried out a month of biological and oceanographic work in the waters around the islands until she headed for Australia, reaching Adelaide on 1 April 1930.

A second year of research was authorised soon after the expedition's return and the British government's free loan of Discovery was extended. Mawson was still in command. Captain Davis showed no interest in returning for the second expedition but personally recommended the first officer, Kenneth N. MacKenzie, as captain. The second expedition left Hobart on 22 November 1930. She carried 73 tons of supplies, which included 20 live sheep (accommodated in a pen on top of the sounding winch deckhouse) with a ton of fodder. There was also two tons of butter plus an 'electric cow' which would mix water and powdered milk, six tons of potatoes, 7800 eggs, half a ton of fresh meat in the refrigerated locker and 30 tons of fresh water (loaded aboard from a single hosepipe on the dockside). She also carried 430 tons of coal.

With a standard load Discovery normally drew 13 ft of water but on leaving Hobart she drew 19 ft. Five days out of port the expedition made its first discovery – an under-ocean ridge rising 6000 ft out of a flat sea floor. This would later be found to be part of the Macquarie Fault Zone.

On 1 December the ship anchored off Macquarie Island, where shore parties were put ashore to study wildlife, the inland lakes and plants while Discovery made soundings and surveys in the coastal waters. On 15 December the expedition rendezvoused with a whaling ship to take on 100 tons of coal and 25 tons of fresh water – an operation which took 16 hours. Scientific records were made of the whales being processed on the factory ship while the transfer was being carried out.

The expedition headed towards a small sliver of known coastline called Adélie Land, hoping to discover and claim land on either side. The southern summer of 1930 proved to be one of extremely heavy ice, with 111 icebergs being sighted from the ship in one day (21 December) alone. Snow flurries, fog and gales hampered navigation but on fine days Discovery could make nearly 150 miles a day but over the Christmas period the ship was blocked in by pack ice. A Norwegian whaler was met on 29 December, which gifted the Discovery a further 50 tons of coal.

On 31 December the ship was struck by a violent storm with winds of up to 70 mph (Force 11 on the Beaufort Scale). The ship was driven against the ice, while larger bergs were blown onto the ship by the wind. For eight hours Discovery was repeatedly slammed into and onto thick ice and battered by bergs but MacKenzie was able to slowly work the ship offshore by use of the engine and, despite the fierce wind, sails. The ship found safe anchorage at Mawson's old base camp site at Cape Denison, where the wind moderated to Force 9. Here readings of the magnetic field were taken over 18 hours, which relocated the South Magnetic Pole and showed it had moved to the northwest since Mawson's previous readings in 1913.

On 5 January 1931, another flag-planting ceremony and proclamation was made as Mawson claimed the newly surveyed coast, Cape Denison and all the land between the coast and the pole for the British Empire as George V Land. During the rest of the month Discovery continued to work westward, prevented by heavy ice from approaching closer than around 100 miles from the coast. Most survey and photography work was carried out by aircraft while the shipboard team continued their oceanographic and biological work.

The aerial team relocated a coastline originally found by the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840 and renamed it and the newly surveyed land around it as the Banzare Coast. The work was still frequently interrupted by gales and storms, which brought many large icebergs and floes around the ship.

On 11 February both the weather and the seas cleared, allowing Discovery to edge in to less than 10 miles from the coast, allowing surveying from the ship and inland flights by the aircraft. This land, entirely unknown before the BANZARE's arrival, was named Princess Elizabeth Land, which was claimed by means of the flag being dropped from the air. The Murray Monolith was discovered and claimed a few days later. By now the ship was back at the coast of Mac. Robertson Land which had been charted the previous year. Now conditions were right to send a party ashore to undertake another flag-planting ceremony.

On 18 February the coal bunkers had only 100 tons of fuel left, which both Mawson and MacKenzie had agreed would be the minimum for the ship's return voyage. The next day Discovery sheltered in the lee of a large iceberg while the topgallant yards were rigged to ready the ship for the ocean crossing. The early days of the northward journey were in the teeth of another furious gale. With only two sails carried on the foremast Discovery still averaged 8.5 kn over 24 hours, in seas with waves over 100 ft high and with crests 1300 ft apart.

In his diary recording these days MacKenzie called Discovery "my wonderful little ship". The weather eased after three days and Discovery arrived back at Hobart on 19 March 1931, having covered 10,557 mi since she left.

The ship and most of her crew still had to return to Britain. She did so via the traditional clipper route via Cape Horn, which was rounded on 1 June. She arrived back at her usual berth in London's East India Dock on 1 August 1931, exactly two years after her departure.

Boy Scouts/Sea Cadet Corps
Having returned to Britain, Discovery's research days were now over. As well as RRS William Scoresby; the British government also had a brand new steamship available for research work. RRS Discovery II had been launched in 1929, partially to tide over the Discovery Committee (still continuing the whale and ocean research started in 1923 – the Discovery Investigations would not conclude until 1951) while the original Discovery was undertaking the BANZARE but also in recognition of the original ship's age.

She had now had thirty years of hard work in some of the most punishing seas in the world. Her limitations, not being originally designed for open-ocean research work, were clear – despite improvements she was still slow, ponderous and notoriously prone to rolling. As both Davis and MacKenzie found, it was increasingly difficult to find crew with sufficient experience to man traditional sailing vessels and when used purely as a steamship Discovery lacked the engine power and bunker capacity for the work required.

In the years following her return from Australia Discovery was laid-up and offered for charter. Several proposed expeditions were either offered to the ship (often at little or no charge) or expressed interest in using her, but none came to fruition. Either the proposed expedition failed to raise the required funds in the years of the Great Depression or the organisers felt that Discovery was unsuitable for their purpose.

The Crown Agents, the statutory corporation which was the ship's ultimate legal owner, made moves to sell or dispose of the ship in 1935. Two members of the Discovery Committee worked to find a means to ensure the ship's survival and recognition of her national importance. The solution was found in 1936 when she was presented to the Boy Scouts Association as a static training ship for Sea Scouts in London. She was kept at a mooring in the centre of London on the Victoria Embankment near Westminster Bridge.

During the Second World War Discovery served as the headquarters and depot ship for the River Emergency Service, a network of first aid stations and 'floating ambulances' using requisitioned pleasure craft. In 1941 a barrage balloon broke its moorings and became entangled in the ship's main course yardarm. When the balloon was cut free it was found that the yard was rotten and all the yards and spars were removed. In 1943 her boilers and machinery were removed.

Previously it was thought these had been scrapped to provide material for the war effort, but in 2016 a 1943 advert by a salvage firm was found offering the entire contents of the engine room for sale as a single lot, suggesting the equipment was removed for reuse although its ultimate fate is unknown.

To maintain the ship's trim and stability with the loss of her machinery the bilges and shaft tunnel were filled with ballast in the form of small rocks (shingle). The former engine space became a mess hall and the boiler room and coal bunkers became a classroom. During the Festival of Britain in the summer of 1951 (held at South Bank just across the river from Discovery's mooring), the ship hosted an exhibition on Antarctica and the history of its exploration. This required opening much of the existing crew quarters as public exhibition space and the former water tanks were removed and replaced with new crew quarters.

In the 1950s the ageing ship proved too costly for the Scout Association to maintain and she was transferred to the Admiralty in 1954 and formally commissioned as HMSDiscovery for use as a drill ship for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and also as a training ship for the Westminster Sea Cadet Corps.

The RN carried out another refitting which saw virtually all the remaining accommodation and fittings from the ship's original 1900 build and the 1923 Vospers rebuild removed or remodelled. In 1960, following reforms to the reserve forces, HMS Discovery became part of the newly unified Royal Naval Reserve and was the flagship of the Admiral Commanding, Reserves, thus becoming one of only two sailing ships to fly the White Ensign and an Admiral's flag during the 20th century, along with HMS Victory.

The Navy maintained the ship but this was rarely in a manner primarily concerned with retaining her historical fabric or her integrity as a sailing vessel, and as the wooden ship passed her 70th birthday (and 40 years moored in the Thames without dry-docking) her condition deteriorated. When no longer of use to the Navy, she was in danger of being scrapped.

The Maritime Trust, into whose care she passed in 1979, saved her from the breaker's yard. Her future secured, she was berthed first on the River Thames next to HMS Chrysanthemum (1917) and HMS President (1918), and later in St Katharine Docks. During this time, she remained the home and training ship of the Westminster Sea Cadet Corps. Despite significant superficial deterioration and some rotten timbers in her outer and upper hull, Discovery was found to be sound below the waterline and structurally solid.

She reverted to the Royal Research Ship (RRS) designation and was open to the public as a museum. The Sea Cadets unit eventually relocated to onshore premises in Pimlico situated in the converted basement of a local council estate. The Maritime Trust spent some £500,000 on essential restoration until she was passed into the ownership of the Dundee Heritage Trust in 1985.

Transportation from London to Dundee
On 28 March 1986, Discovery left London aboard the semi-submersible docklift ship Happy Mariner to make her journey home to the Scottish city that had built her. She arrived at Victoria Dock on the River Tay on 3 April – the first time she had been back to Dundee since her construction.

Discovery Point, Dundee
Placed in a custom-built dock in 1992, Discovery is now the centrepiece of Dundee's visitor attraction Discovery Point.

She is displayed in a configuration as near as possible to her 1923 state, when she was refitted in the Vosper yard at Portsmouth. She is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet. Discovery Point is a fully accredited museum and has won numerous national awards, as well as being a 5-star rated tourist attraction with Visit Scotland. In 2008, Discovery and the associated polar collections were named as a Recognised Collection of National Significance.

Since the 1990s, the Discovery Point museum has concentrated on interpreting the vessel on all of her voyages, with personal items from the ship's crew as well as information on her scientific activities. Items range from the games played by the crew on her first expedition to examples of sea fauna. Star objects on display include Captain Scott's rifle and pipe.

Discovery's three main voyages, the National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904), the Discovery Oceanographic Expedition (1925–1927) and the BANZARE expedition (1929–31), are all explored in the museum through film and photographic evidence with artefacts from each era represented. The museum also holds other pieces from Scott's subsequent Terra Nova expedition and Shackleton's Endurance expedition.

The ship also features on the crest of the coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory.

Subsequent ships
There have been three subsequent royal research ships named Discovery. The second, RRS Discovery II (1929), and third, RRS Discovery (1962), subsequently left service. A fourth ship is the current RRS Discovery, which was built in 2013.

The spaceship Discovery One in Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey was named by Clarke after RRS Discovery; Clarke used to eat his lunch aboard her, as she was moored near the office where he worked in London.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is named for RRS Discovery, and other famous ships of the same name, particularly Captain Cook's HMS Discovery and Henry Hudson's Discovery.

title: RRS Discovery