Sponsored by
Ship's appeal for a home
Sailors who served in HMS Plymouth are hoping the ship can find a new home in Portsmouth.
The ship, which served during the Falklands War, is presently berthed in Liverpool but has to be moved.
As yet, the team working to find her a last resting place have been unsuccessful.
Martin Slater, secretary of the HMS Plymouth Association, said bringing her to the home of the navy would be a dream.
He also backed our Save Our Ships campaign, which aims to prevent historic naval ships from going to rot.
'We will carry on trying to find her a berth,' he said.
'We have seen the Save Our Ships campaign in The News and hope that can be pushed all the way.
'What we are looking for is to preserve her and we just need a berth to do that. She has proved over the years that visitors enjoy going around her and it would be great if we could find a place for her in Portsmouth.'
HMS Plymouth, a Type 12 anti-submarine frigate, was first launched in 1959.
During the Falklands War she was the first warship to enter Stanley Harbour after the Argentinian surrender.
She was finally decommisioned in 1988.
She is currently owned by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, following the demise of the Warship Preservation Trust in 2006.
But the company doesn't want her and the HMS Plymouth Association has been trying to find her a new home.
Mr Slater said there was room in Portsmouth, citing Number Three Basin in the dockyard as a possible location.
But Councillor Jim Patey, leader of the Labour group in Portsmouth, who served in the Royal Navy for seven years, told The News he didn't think it would be possible for Plymouth to come to Portsmouth.
He said: 'I have a lot of sympathy with the association, we like to keep the ships alive for people to come and visit.
'But it would cost a lot of money in upkeep, and with Portsmouth developing as the premier naval port it is going to need all the facilities for ships in service.
'Unless a private company was to get involved, in the present economic I don't see it as a viable option.'
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
