THIS WEEK IN 1980: Guided to her resting place by laser beams

Organisers of the HMS Alliance museum project at Gosport reached a crucial point in their plan to put the veteran submarine on permanent show.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Mar 2018, 06:00 BST

The 1,100-ton vessel was towed to Haslar jetty where she would be lifted above the waterline on to two concrete cradles.

Engineers used a laser beam and divers to help them achieve the pinpoint accuracy needed to complete the complicated and delicate task successfully.

They took advantage of the highest tide of the month to begin the two-day operation.

HMS Alliance, the last Second World War submarine to see service with the Royal Navy, was berthed at HMS Dolphin, Gosport, for vital restoration work.

She was towed astern by three tugs and floated into place between four piles driven deep into the bottom of Haslar Lake.

She was to become a permanent memorial to the submariners who died in the two world wars.

Alliance was said to be only the third submarine in the world to go on permanent exhibition to the public.

She was launched in 1945 for use against the Japanese in the pacific.