RRS Bransfield was designed by consultants Graham & Woolnaugh of Liverpool for NERC, and built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd, Leith.

[3] An earlier wooden Norwegian sealer, built in 1918 as Veslekari, was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1943 and renamed HMS Bransfield.

[5] Her service with Tabarin was inglorious - she proved to be unseaworthy, and was replaced before the expedition left English waters in November 1943.

[6] In May 1999, she was sold to GC Rieber Shipping as part of the contract for the long-term charter of her replacement, RRS Ernest Shackleton.

[7][8] Bransfield represented NERC in the Review of the Fleet at Spithead in 1977, held to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee.