The CCGS Des Groseilliers is a T1200 Class Medium Arctic Icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

 in the Canadian Coast Guard

Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...

.

The vessel is named after Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers

Médard des Groseilliers

Médard Chouart des Groseilliers was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson who was about 20 years his junior...

 (1618-1669) a close associate of Pierre-Esprit Radisson

Pierre-Esprit Radisson

Pierre-Esprit Radisson was a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers who was about 20 years older. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company.Born near...

 in explorations west of the Great Lakes and the founding of the English Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

.

The vessel has participated in a number of research voyages, including Ice Station SHEBA. As part of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean

Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean

For related articles on this topic, see List of Arctic research programsThe Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean study was a National Science Foundation-funded research project designed to quantify the heat transfer processes that occur between the ocean and the atmosphere over the course of a...

 experiment conducted in the Arctic Ocean from October 1997 to October 1998 to provide polar input to global climate model

Global climate model

A General Circulation Model is a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean and based on the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources . These equations are the basis for complex computer programs commonly...

s, the Des Groseilliers was allowed to be frozen into the ice for the Arctic winter, to serve as a base for scientific researchers.

In spring 2008, the Des Groseilliers collided with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, RV Farley Mowat, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...

, during the annual seal hunt. Paul Watson

Paul Watson

Paul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....

, head of the society, claimed that the icebreaker had rammed the society's research vessel. However, a spokesman for the department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, frequently referred to as DFO , is the department within the government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and scientific interests in oceans and inland waters...

 claimed that the research vessel "grazed" the icebreaker.

CCG Base Quebec

Retired ships at the base include:

• CCGS D'Iberville
  CCGS D'Iberville
  The CCGS D'Iberville was a Canadian Coast Guard Gulf icebreaker.Commissioned as the CGS D'Iberville for the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship", the D'Iberville was transferred into the newly-created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962...
  
  - icebreaker joined Des Groseilliers a year prior to retirement

External links

• CCGS Des Groseilliers