THE Admiralty at London has always had a way with words in the naming of ships of the Royal Navy. "HMS" was the prefix, as the monarch could be male or female. His or Her Majesty's Ship was often given a name that was not that of a person, unlike fashion in the civilian world, where ships were often named after the owner or a relative.

The Admiralty names were such that interest must be taken in a ship called Irresistible or battle joined reluctantly with one named Implacable or Invincible. Others in retrospect were aptly named for the work at hand, so Admiral Nelson's Victory won the Battle of Trafalgar and the Challenger confronted many of the accepted scientific notions of its day.

The fifth HMS Challenger was launched in 1858 as a steam-assisted corvette. Four years later, she was engaged in operations against Mexico and in 1866 at Fiji, punishing the inhabitants for the murder of a missionary. That, until 1872, was the "less than glorious history" of Challenger. The vessel was paid off in 1878 and broken up in 1921 for the value of her copper bottom. All that is left is her figurehead on display at the Southampton Oceanography Centre and memorial usage, such as the naming of the space shuttle Challenger.

Challenger will always have a place in history, due to her extraordinary scientific expedition of 1872-1876, 17 days being spent at Bermuda. The voyage of four years and 68,890 nautical miles or 127,670 kilometres around the globe forever changed our understanding of the ocean, its life forms and geology foundations. This was especially true for the ocean depths, for contemporary science preserved the notion that no life existed in the seas below 300 feet.

To accomplish that first true oceanographic expedition, 15 of the ship's 17 guns were removed. In their place, laboratories were installed and loaded with alcohol for preservation, jars for specimens and microscopes. A dredging platform was added and sounding leads and machines to obtain sediment from the sea floor were shipped.

A complement of 243 scientists, officers and crew came aboard for the long trip of oceanic discoveries, a voyage "still regarded as the greatest marine science expedition of all time" producing some 70 published volumes of research. On December 21, 1872, the Challenger left Britain bound for Gibraltar from where on January 26 following, she crossed the Atlantic via Madeira to St. Thomas and then northward to Bermuda. Benjamin Shephard, a cooper of the crew with an artistic flair, captured the entry of the ship in a painting on April 3, 1873. Before coming in, a part of the day was spent collecting samples from the seabed. On conclusion of that work, "we closed on the land and as we stopped off St. George's for the pilot to navigate the vessel through the intricate and dangerous narrows between the reefs, it was indeed a pretty sight".

The writer goes on to say that "seemingly nothing could have been more romantic than the little harbour stretched out before us; the variety and beauty of the islets scattered about; the clearness of the water; the number of boats and small vessels cruising between the islands, sailing from one cedar-grove to another, made up as charming a picture as could well be imagined".

This view is somewhat contradicted by the opinion of Lord Campbell, one of the upper crust on board: "Bermuda is remarkable for its varied vegetation, its admirable tomatoes and onions, its epidemics of yellow fever, its geology, its numerous caves, its villainous mosquitoes, its fish, its unique but monotonous loveliness, its great importance as a naval and military station, and, I would add, its intense wearisomeness."

ONE item others found not wearisome were the "Outlying Rocks Somerset", photographed by the scientists. We are fortunate at the Maritime Museum, through the generosity of Fay and Geoffrey Elliott of Smith's Parish, to have an album of the photographs taken by the Challenger while at Bermuda and in a few other places, such as "Inaccessible Island" in the South Atlantic.

The "Outlying Rocks" are on the north side of Ireland Island by Cockburn Cut Bridge. Now called "Pulpit Rock", these formations have been recorded by most visiting geologists because of their significance in indicating that Bermuda was formerly a much larger place, much of which has been eroded away.

In other words, the Pulpit Rock could not have formed by itself, but was originally part of larger area of solid ground, which has been removed by natural agents, leaving only the pinnacle that is a sermon to the existence of an earlier and bigger Bermuda.

The pictures in the Challenger album show that the scientists visited the Dockyard, the Commissioner's House and made extensive trips to the caves at Walsingham and the sand glaciers at Elbow Beach.

One photo shows only the top of the chimney of a house buried by moving sand dunes and a garden overcome by creeping sand flows. The progress of sand dunes has been halted by the build-up and increased vegetation of the coast in those parts.

Global warming aside, some say we are actually entering into a new Ice Age. If so, a drop in sea level around Bermuda would likely result in the burial of much of our glorious new works by "sand glaciers", such as those poignantly recorded by the Challenger scientists. We should always remember how much of a house of sand this island really is.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. The views expressed here are his opinion, not necessarily those of the trustees or staff of the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm, to PO Box MA 133, Sandys MABX, or by telephone at 799-5480.