Edward Killwick Calver

[1] He entered the Navy in July 1828 on board HMS Crocodile on foreign service in the East Indies, where he was active in the search for pirates.

Washington and Calver then transferred from Shearwater to HMS Blazer, and continued survey work in the North Sea until 1847.

[3][6] During this period Calver was involved in both deep-water surveying, and in making plans of Scarborough and the port of Harwich, the Rivers Orwell Stour and Deben, and the approaches to Yarmouth and Lowestoft Roads.

[3] He also carried out surveys on the west coast of Britain during this period including the work that led to the publication of sailing directions for the Bristol Channel.

[1][3] Calver was in command of Porcupine for her most famous voyages, the oceanographic cruises in 1869 and 1870 directed by Charles Wyville Thomson and sponsored by the Royal Society.

The second cruise, from 17 July to 4 August 1869 was to an area west of Ushant and south-west of Ireland and aimed to sample much deeper water than had previously been obtained.

Thomson credits Calver's skill in managing the dredging operations, which were carried out at depths that "would have been previously deemed out of the question".

Calver suggested attaching hempen "tangles" to the sides of the dredge to sweep the sea floor, and this helped to collect more animals for study.