RV Calypso was once a British Royal Navy minesweeper that was changed into a research ship for ocean scientist Jacques Cousteau. It had a mobile laboratory for studying the ocean underwater. The ship was heavily damaged in 1996 and was supposed to get a full renovation from 2009 to 2011, but this work was never completed. The ship’s name comes from Calypso, a figure from Greek mythology.

World War II British minesweeper (1941–1947)

Calypso was originally a minesweeper built by the Ballard Marine Railway Company in Seattle, Washington, United States, for the United States Navy. It was loaned to the British Royal Navy under the lend-lease program. The ship had a wooden hull made of Oregon pine.

It was first built as a British yard minesweeper (BYMS) Mark 1 class motor minesweeper. Construction began on August 12, 1941, with the shipyard number BYMS-26. The ship was launched on March 21, 1942, and officially put into service by the Royal Navy in February 1943 as HMS J-826. It was assigned to active duty in the Mediterranean Sea, based in Malta. In 1944, the ship was reclassified as BYMS-2026.

After World War II ended, the ship was decommissioned in July 1946 and stored in reserve at Malta. On August 1, 1947, the vessel was formally returned to the United States Navy and then removed from the US Naval Register. It remained in reserve storage after that.

Maltese ferry (1949–1950)

In May 1949, the ship was purchased by Joseph Gasan of Malta. He had obtained the contract for delivering mail on the ferry route between Marfa, in northern Malta, and Mġarr, Gozo, in southern Malta, in 1947. The ship was changed into a ferry and renamed Calypso G, after the nymph Calypso, whose mythical island of Ogygia was connected to Gozo. It began service in March 1950. After only four months on the route, Gasan sold the ferry to new owners.

Jacques Cousteau'sCalypso(1950–1997)

In July 1950, Thomas Loel Guinness, a British millionaire and former Member of Parliament (MP), purchased the ship Calypso. He allowed Jacques Cousteau to use the ship for one franc per year. Guinness set two rules: Cousteau could not ask for money, and he had to keep Guinness’s identity secret. This secret remained unknown until after Cousteau’s death. Cousteau changed the ship’s design to make it a base for diving, filming, and ocean research. One unusual mission involved surveying Abu Dhabi waters for British Petroleum (BP) in 1954. This was the only time Calypso was used for an oil survey.

The ship had advanced tools, including small submarines, diving saucers, and underwater scooters. It also had a transparent "nose" and an observation chamber 3 meters (9.8 feet) below the waterline. The ship was modified to hold scientific equipment and a helicopter landing area. The Calypso underwater camera was named after the ship.

On January 8, 1996, a barge accidentally hit Calypso in Singapore’s port, causing it to sink. On January 16, the ship was lifted from the water using a 230-foot (70-meter) crane. It was repaired, drained of water, and moved to a shipyard for further work.

Restoration (1997–present)

Calypso was moved to the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle in 1998 to be displayed as an exhibit. A legal disagreement between Francine Cousteau, the widow of Jacques Cousteau, and Loel Guinness, the grandson of the ship’s original owner, caused delays in restoring the ship. At the same time, the city of La Rochelle stopped providing money for the restoration. Calypso remained in poor condition during this period.

In 2002, Alexandra Cousteau, Jacques Cousteau’s granddaughter from his first marriage, attempted to help with the restoration. The Cousteau Society, which Francine Cousteau controlled, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect Francine’s right to use the Cousteau name and to stop Alexandra from participating in the restoration.

In 2006, Loel Guinness gave ownership of Calypso to the Cousteau Society for one euro. In October 2007, the ship was moved to Concarneau, where restoration work began at the Piriou Shipyard. However, work stopped in 2009 because Francine Cousteau did not pay the shipyard’s bills. Piriou claimed they were owed €850,000 for completed work. The Cousteau Society filed a lawsuit, claiming the work was not done properly. In 2015, a French court ordered Francine Cousteau to pay the outstanding bills or allow the shipyard to sell the vessel.

In 2016, the Cousteau Society announced a plan to return Calypso to service with new engines. In 2017, a fire damaged new wooden parts of the ship at a shipyard near Istanbul, Turkey, where repairs had been underway.

Calypsoin popular culture

• Calypso was the main ship in three important documentary movies directed by Jacques Cousteau: The Silent World (1956, which won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature and the 1956 Palme d'Or), World Without Sun (1964, which also won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature), and Voyage to the Edge of the World (1976).
• John Denver wrote a 1975 song called "Calypso" to honor the ship and its crew. He donated all the money earned from the song to the Cousteau Society.
• Jean-Michel Jarre created a three-part musical piece about Calypso, which was included on his 1990 album Waiting for Cousteau.
• The American heavy metal band Gwar wrote a song titled "Je M'Appelle J. Cousteau," which appeared on their 1988 album Hell-O. The song focuses on Jacques Cousteau and his ship Calypso, though it is unclear if it is meant as a tribute or criticism.
• On Star Trek: The Next Generation, actor Patrick Stewart named the captain's yacht of the USS Enterprise-D "Calypso." He also named the captain's yacht of the USS Enterprise-E "Cousteau" to honor Jacques Cousteau and his ship.
• Director Wes Anderson made a movie called The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which is inspired by Jacques Cousteau's life. In the film, Zissou travels on a ship named Belafonte. This is an indirect reference to Calypso. The name "Belafonte" also honors Harry Belafonte, a famous musician known for popularizing calypso music. His 1956 album Calypso was the first LP record to sell one million copies. The ship Belafonte in the movie was previously a British minesweeper, just like Calypso was.
• NASA astronaut Sunita Williams named the third Boeing Starliner space capsule "Calypso" after the ship.
• The character Rebecca in the television show Theodore Tugboat is based on Calypso.