The data set includes depth soundings, water temperature, salinity, oxygen and nutrient (phosphate, silicate, nitrite, nitrate) data, meteorological measurements (temperature, pressure), and wind and sea state observations. The data primarily originate from the Southern Ocean, although some data from the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Australia, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean are also included. The data were collected between 1925 and 1951 and are held in the series of nine Discovery Reports published between 1929 and 1957. These reports contain station lists of measurements taken by RRS Discovery and RRS William Scoresby and staff of the Marine Biological Station at South Georgia between 1925 and 1939, plus station lists of observations made by RRS William Scoresby and RRS Discovery between 1950 and 1951. Discovery station numbers 1 to 2911, William Scoresby stations WS1 to WS1107, Marine Biological Station MS1 to MS106, South Sandwich Islands stations 1 to 58 and Ross Sea stations 1 to 29 are included in the data set. The Discovery Project was commissioned by the Royal Society as a series of Antarctic cruises, originally with the aim of investigating the commercial whaling industry. The Discovery Reports are currently held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre in paper format. There is an ongoing effort to digitise the reports and the intention is to store these digitised versions at BODC.