Last ditch battle to save HMS Plymouth from scrap is on verge of success
A DRAMATIC last-ditch battle may have saved HMS Plymouth from being broken up.
A group set up to preserve the only surviving ship from the Falklands War has reported that it is close to success.
An email seen by The Herald reveals that the HMS Plymouth Action Group has found a berth for the Type 12 anti-submarine frigate – the last of her kind.
The news comes as fascinating pictures were published of the interior of the rusting ship, which is berthed at Vittoria Dock in Birkenhead on the Wirral. The photographs reveal a 1980s time capsule.
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Earlier this year port operators the Peel Ports announced that they had signed a contract for HMS Plymouth to be broken up. The ship was due to be towed to Turkey to be dismantled later this year.
Now the HMS Plymouth Action Group says it has a berth and will be setting up a Friends of HMS Plymouth Association to raise the money needed to secure her future.
In an email, Captain Richard Tyrrell of the Navy Training Corps, who set up the action group, writes: "An HMS Plymouth Trust has been set up to accept ownership of the vessel once we acquire her, and it looks providing we can achieve certain goals we will acquire her.
"The berth is no longer a problem and we have now secured this."
He refuses to name the port, but goes on:
"It looks as if we will have to find some money to secure the ship, but at the moment we don't know how much.
"We are also starting a Friends of HMS Plymouth Association to encourage the large amount of support we have to join and pay a modest yearly subscription to help fund the ship.
"Details of the above will shortly be out on a new HMS Plymouth website which will shortly be going live."
In a web page devoted to HMS Plymouth, Capt Tyrrell said: "The long-term future for the ship would be as an alongside training ship for naval youth training organisations.
She would also serve as a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in the Falklands conflict."
Campaigners have spent years battling to secure a future for the ship, which was built in Plymouth in 1959.
When she was first decommissioned in 1988 Lord Owen, the former Devonport MP, and a group of volunteers fought to keep her in Plymouth. For a year she was at berthed at Trinity Pier in Millbay Docks.
She finally ended up in Birkenhead.
In a joint partnership between the Warship Preservation Trust and Wirral Borough Council she was opened to the public in May 1992.
The trust went into voluntary liquidation and the ships were closed to visitors in 2006. HMS Plymouth was closed up and left to deteriorate at Vittoria Dock.
The Herald was unable to get a comment from Peel Ports yesterday.
Last month former shipmates gathered on her flight deck in the bleak surroundings of Vittoria Dock for what they believed was a final farewell.
They remembered her "day of all days" – Sunday April 25, 1982, when she played a vital role in the recapture of the island of South Georgia from the Argentines.
"It was the first serious bombardment against an enemy in decades," said former Gunnery Officer David Sayer.
On June 8, 1982, she was attacked by five Mirage jets, taking four hits by bombs and several cannon shells. Five men were injured in the attack and HMS Plymouth required emergency repairs before rejoining the fleet.
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said yesterday that the city had expressed an interest in displaying artefacts from HMS Plymouth at the city museum.
Comments
by bcavill
Thursday, July 05 2012, 5:38AM
“Squadie in Hong Kong
I remember spending a day on the Plymouth in the early 60s. We were invited on board for the day. We had a night on the turps before boeading the next morning. As we headed out into the outer harbour the sea was really choppy. Well, I am not godd sailor at the best of times, but add a hangover to that and i was destined to spend a good part of the day in the heads. I finally emerged up top and stood at the bow enjoying the fresh breeze. This was an opportunity for the crew to have some fun at my expense. The lads who were working around me quietly withdrew and I had no inkling of what was coming . Well, the ship made a sharp turn and a wave swept over the bow and I was soaked completely. Anyway, I am gl;ad I made somebody' day”
by PaintaDecor8r
Monday, June 25 2012, 11:42PM
“I'd chip in to see her rested here. Also, am i right in thinking the defence budget comes out of taxpayers money? If so then she's ours anyway! Am i wrong?”
by carmelobn6
Monday, June 25 2012, 10:10PM
“If there no berth to accommodate HMS Plymouth then try contuct Valletta City Council Malta, im sure that they will find a berth somewhere in grand harbour ,RN maltese enthusiasts and former dockyard workers who are now pensioners with plenty of time on there hands will restore Plymouth to its former glory and it will be well looked after out there. The local branch of the St Paul sea cadets will make sure to keep her shipshape. The maltese would appreciate a bit of Plymouth in Malta, after all the island was home to the mediterranean fleet for 180 years.”
by kersweaz
Tuesday, June 19 2012, 1:03AM
“markpenn1985
(your quote), Ever wondered why over six years she didn't "return home"?
Yes i do their has not been the political will to do so from the last controlling party of Plymouth city council.
(your quote) If you want someone to point the finger at I suggest a little closer to home!"????
please explain!”
by Redrussell
Monday, June 18 2012, 6:25PM
“Get her back to Guzz and give me a tub or two of top coat grey and she,ll look like new again.....can't be the only salt who'd offer there time to bring her back to her former glory.....might also remind a certain Argie skipper (submarine Santa Fe)where he signed the surrender of South Georgia on!!”
by PCCwatcher
Monday, June 18 2012, 5:31PM
“This is the trouble with the Herald and it's inability to report a full story.
As I understand it, HMS Plymouth WAS profitable during it's short sojourn in Milbay last time.
It even paid for itself at Birkenhead, despite being well off the beaten track.
The death knell at Birkenhead was sounded by property developers who saw the land around her as an opportunity for profit - a scenario not unfamiliar to Plymouth inhabitants....”
by PL1Plym
Monday, June 18 2012, 11:40AM
“Yeh this hulk would look right at home in Plymouth! Rotting, rusting and uncared for (the ship and the city!) Would it be a true viable tourist attraction? Hasn't it failed once already? Maybe the best thing for it would be to scuttle it next to HMS Scylla!”
by markpenn1985
Monday, June 18 2012, 8:31AM
“kersweaz,
Plymouth authorities don't want her. What bit of this do the residents not understand? If you really care about "your" ship then you wouldn't care where she is berthed. She is more a piece of BRITISH heritage than Plymouth heritage. Did you know she left Plymouth over two decades ago? Anyone who ****gs off this campaign or the good work of Mr Tyrell is quite clearly not interested in saving this ship. Ever wondered why over six years she didn't "return home"? If you want someone to point the finger at I suggest a little closer to home!”
by kersweaz
Monday, June 18 2012, 1:08AM
“Captain Richard Tyrrell
i strongly believe you and your group are going the wrong way about saving this great ship.
by not clearly stating which port that she will be birthed in leads me to think it's not Plymouth. no one as asked you what birth she will end up on so where's your problem, if you think you can hoodwink the residents of this city into paying out moneys to this Venture by birthing her in another city or town you will only end up losing her in a years time when they dont renew their inscription's.
come clean and be strait with us if you wont our help.”
by sharkeyRN
Sunday, June 17 2012, 8:16PM
“if councillors are worried about what their voters may see as a waste of taxpayers money on acquiring HMS Plymouth, not only for Plymouth and the tourists she will attract, but also for the nation as a whole as a permanent memorial to the unsung heroes of 1982 and a conflict thousands of miles away, but still in thousands of peoples minds every day, then the councillors will be re elected on the fact that they have backed the proposition to support the HMS Plymouth action group successfully, not on whether they have backed other less tangible ideas or investments (no more airport, PAFC, to name but 2)”