RRS William Scoresby was British Royal Research Ship built for operations in Antarctic waters.

Specially built for the Discovery Committee by Cook, Welton & Gemmell of Beverley, the ship was launched on 31 December 1925, and named after the noted 19th-century Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman.

[3] She also took part in the 2nd Wilkins-Hearst Antarctic Expedition in 1929-1930, launching a Lockheed Vega floatplane for flights over Antarctica.

The vessel was decommissioned in September 1946, and transferred to the newly formed National Institute of Oceanography in February 1951.

She made one last voyage, surveying the Benguela Current off the west coast of Africa, before finally being sold for scrapping by the British Iron & Steel Corporation in 1954.