Dudley naval officer Dave Pitt visits namesake Antarctic islands

Lt Cdr Dave Pitt joined the Royal Navy in 1991 and has mostly worked on submarines

A Royal Navy officer has become one of only a handful of people to visit a collection of remote Antarctic islands.

The deserted Pitt Islands lie 675 miles (1,086 km) south of Cape Horn in the freezing waters.

Lt Cdr Dave Pitt, from Dudley, was part of a 12-person Royal Navy expedition to study the islands' penguins.

"I cannot believe how privileged I am to be able to camp overnight in the Antarctic, on a group of islands with which I share a name," he said.

HMS Protector is on a five-year mission in the southern hemisphere

The archipelago, which is only about twice the size of Norwich, was discovered by a British expedition about 200 years ago.

It was named after former Prime Minister William Pitt with the individual islands taking their names from characters in Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers.

The group collected data on the islands' penguin populations

Lt Cdr Pitt, 46, was onboard HMS Protector as it patrolled the Antarctic waters earlier this year, visiting research stations and gathering data about the weather and climate.

The ship's commanding officer, Cpt Michael Wood, said the work contributed to the safety of navigation and shipping routes.

"Surveying alone provides many obstacles," he said. "The challenges faced range from ice conditions, unfavourably strong winds and the constant management of maintaining the equipment in this harsh environment."

They overcame freezing conditions and strong winds to gather the data

The expedition also surveyed waters around the islands to update Admiralty charts

Lt Cdr Pitt and his colleagues camped on Jingle Island, where penguins covered the shoreline.

"Overnight the winds picked up and along with the sounds of the buffering tents, nesting penguins and half a dozen fur seals, the surrounding noises were drowned out by snoring sailors and marines resting from an amazing day prior to embarking back in Protector," he said.

"The whole 24-hour period was an amazing experience and one that I will remember for the rest of his life. I wonder if I am the only 'Pitt' to have stayed on a Pitt Island."

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