back to article Boaty McBoatface sinks in South Atlantic on her maiden deployment

Boaty McBoatface has slipped beneath the icy waters of the Antarctic on her first operational deployment. Happily, the little yellow submarine resurfaced again after 30 hours following a pre-programmed route devised by scientists from the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre. Lowered into the Weddell …

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    1. Steve K

      Re: James Clark Ross?

      Exactly - the David Attenborough will only be completed in 2019 according to various news sites..

    2. AIBailey

      Re: James Clark Ross?

      From the article (with clarifications):

      "it (the research ship) was eventually given the conventional name Sir David Attenborough – with the public choice (Boaty McBoatface) being bestowed on her autonomous underwater vessel (the research sub)."

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Boatnoate

    Can we just have this section made for Gareth Corfield's lovely contributions to El Reg?

  3. tiggity Silver badge

    second favourite

    Quote: " Britain's second favourite yellow submarine "

    I'm hoping the favourite is Thunderbird 4 and not anything Beatles related

    1. gv
      Thumb Up

      Re: second favourite

      Certainly is in my book.

      1. Richard Scratcher
        Thumb Up

        Re: second favourite

        F.A.B.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    I thought the ROV was going to be named Subby McSinksAlot?

    Imagine my disappointment.

    (Paris, because she goes d...never mind the reason.)

    1. Haku
      Coat

      Re: I thought the ROV was going to be named Subby McSinksAlot?

      Subby McSinksAlot - Baby Got Ballast:

      I like big tugs and I can not lie

      You other mariners can't deny

      That when a boat docks in with an itty bitty wake

      . . .

  5. Your alien overlord - fear me

    I hope those Argies don't try anything funny like permanently sinking our little pride and joy down in the British ruled South Atlantic waters.

    Controversial, moi? Never.

    1. Sir Sham Cad

      Nah, it's not looking for oil

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All hail Boaty McBoatface!

  7. Grunchy Silver badge

    Clickbait, yes

    But is it Fake News as well...

  8. Sgt_Oddball
    Coat

    of abysml water masses

    The waters not that bad surely?

    Mines the yellow sou'esters with the pocket radio set to the shipping forecast...

  9. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Go

    Exciting times.

    I forget, is the one powered by about 30 000 Duracells?

    Still pretty impressive.

    1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      No

      They managed to get a cheap lot of surplus phone batteries from a source in Korea.

      1. Jedit Silver badge
        Joke

        "They managed to get a cheap lot of surplus phone batteries from a source in Korea."

        And just as the Note 7 was recalled, the North Korean nuclear programme took a lurch forward. I wonder what happened to all those defective batteries.

  10. swampdog
    IT Angle

    ..writing about yellow submarines

    ..has just triggered a memory from when I was a kid. Some might say four decades ago although my wife would say yesterday.

    Where has all the white dog poo gone? Is there a special "wdp" dog that no-one buys these days or was there something special which happened back then to make standard dog poo (sdp) into "wdp".

    1. Martin-73 Silver badge

      Re: ..writing about yellow submarines

      In the olden days, dog poo was left to decompose, and thus enrich the land. Some dog food contained high levels of calcium and phosphates. when the poo decomposed, the white crust was left. (Also some urea may be present due to dogs peeing at the same time).

      These days all dog poo is removed before it gets chance to cool, because, elfin saferty

      1. TRT Silver badge

        Re: ..writing about yellow submarines

        bones. Dogs used to eat bones.

        1. Sweep

          Re: ..writing about yellow submarines

          Correct. Dog foods used to use ground bone as filler whereas now they mostly use rice or corn to bulk it out.

          Hyena poo is usually white though so if anyone's feeling nostalgic, just head to Africa. Or get a hyena.

          1. Jay 2

            Re: ..writing about yellow submarines

            You learn something new every day. I sort-of knew the change in dogfood was due to the lack of white turds you'd see everywhere in the 70s, but I didn't know about the bones.

  11. Andy Tunnah

    SECOND favourite ? That acid-fuelled yellow bastard ridden by a bunch of hippies as most definitely been usurped!

    And don't get me wrong, the amount of time I spent watching that thing while acid soaked myself means it holds a special place in my heart. But anything even slightly associated with David Attenborough comes in at #1

    The man is a bloody demi god in my eyes.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mine's the Yellow Rubber Duck.

    I'm sure they were actually quite pleased, given the merchandising potential of Boaty McBoatface, after all which techy kid wouldn't want a Boaty McBoatface for their bath-tub. And probably, quite a few adults too.

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Mine's the Yellow Rubber Duck.

      This one? (Scroll down to the picture section.)

  13. JJKing
    Pint

    Beer cleaner wanted - inquire within.

    Clickbait headline? You betcha. Now, where's my beer...

    The beer.... well that's been purified by straining it through my kidneys before serving it to your good self. :-))))

    an ill-advised public vote to name the new ship

    Err, not ill advised at all. The object of the exercise was to raise public awareness of the organisation an public awareness raised it was. Noting ill-advised about that.

    Boaty McBoatface is sunk, all raise Boaty McBoatface.

  14. Richard Scratcher
    Coat

    Thank Ulmo it resurfaced as planned.

    Otherwise it would have meant a serious loss of face.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ruddy McMayFace / Scotland.

    In the same way Scotland will resurface after Independence and Ruddy McMayFace will be the one that's sunk. EU+1, as they say & Fund Science.

  16. Zmodem

    they find the entrance to hollow earth and atlantis

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A9rmUj7lmU

    1. harmjschoonhoven

      Re: finding the entrance to hollow earth and atlantis

      But they got distracted by deep-sea vents around Antarctica ...

  17. Chika
    Pint

    Clickbait comment? You betcha!

    Clickbait headline? You betcha. Now, where's my beer...

    You can wait for Beer o' Clock like everyone else!

    Of course, it's beer o' clock somewhere in the world...

  18. Doctor Evil

    To be perfectly pedantic about it ...

    "[Captain Sir James Clark Ross RN] later mounted an unsuccessful search for HM Ships Erebus and Terror, which were both lost without trace searching for the elusive North West Passage around the top of the Americas. Terror was found some 168 years after disappearing, having sunk in an Arctic bay after being abandoned by her doomed crew. "

    Nothing factually wrong with what you've written; the wreck of HMS Terror was indeed discovered in Sept 2016. However, you failed to mention that the remains of HMS Erebus were also found -- somewhat earlier, actually, in Sept 2014 -- leaving one with the impression that the latter is still missing.

  19. J. R. Hartley

    Clickbait

    Can't we have an official Clickbait category for some stories? That would actually be really cool.

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