--- title: Boaty McBoatface Ship to Be Named RRS Sir David Attenborough description: The state-of-the-art polar research ship will now be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, after the notable British naturalist and broadcaster canonical: https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-06T09:28:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:12.056Z og:title: The 'Boaty McBoatface' Ship Has Been Given a Real Name og:description: But 'Boaty McBoatface' lives on elsewhere aboad the vessel og:url: https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3493 og:image:height: 1965 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 'Boaty McBoatface' Ship Has Been Given a Real Name twitter:description: But 'Boaty McBoatface' lives on elsewhere aboad the vessel twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Research Ship the Internet Wanted to Call _Boaty McBoatface_ Has Been Given a Real Name > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=18ba57eb-6610-4b0b-97e8-a5fc28084e34&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar May 6, 2016 9:28 AM UTC  A computer-generated image of the Natural Environment Research Council's new polar research ship A computer-generated image of the Natural Environment Research Council's new polar research ship AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar May 6, 2016 9:28 AM UTC Remember _Boaty McBoatface_? The [viral entry](http://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/) that won an online poll to find a name for a new U.K. government research ship? Well, that’s [not happening](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-200-million-polar-research-ship-named-in-honour-of-sir-david-attenborough). According to an announcement by the government on Friday, the state-of-the-art polar research ship will now be named RRS _Sir David Attenborough_, after the notable British naturalist and broadcaster. “The public provided some truly inspirational and creative names, and while it was a difficult decision I’m delighted that our state-of-the-art polar research ship will be named after one of the nation’s most cherished broadcasters and natural scientists,” Britain’s Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson said in a statement. In a partial consolation to the thousands (possibly millions) of _Boaty McBoatface_ fans, however, that name will now adorn the ship’s remotely operated, bright yellow submersible. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/"},"headline":"The Research Ship the Internet Wanted to Call Boaty McBoatface Has Been Given a Real Name","datePublished":"2016-05-06T09:28:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:12.056Z","description":"But Boaty McBoatface will live on elsewhere aboard the vessel","url":"https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","U.K.","Poll","online","ship"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf01da0bd8bf2e4fa/69888fa2196cf4189303b3b0/boaty-mcboatface.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT","caption":"BRITAIN-RESEARCH-SHIP-OFFBEAT","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4320660/boaty-mcboatface-ship-rrs-david-attenborough/","name":"The Research Ship the Internet Wanted to Call Boaty McBoatface Has Been Given a Real Name"}}]}] ```