HMS Bronington: Efforts to save 'last of wooden walls' former Royal Navy warship once captained by King Charles now ‘tantalisingly close’ to refloating her

It was concluded by a dive survey in June that HMS Bronington, which has been left rotting and submerged at Birkenhead Docks, Merseyside, can be saved.

Bronington, a Cold War-era minesweeper and one of the last naval ships to feature a wooden hull, could now be refloated early next year, according to the Bronington Trust, masterminding the crusade to save her.

‘HMS Bronington launched in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and with a fair wind and following seas will be re-floated in 2023, the year of King Charles III coronation,’ Mike McBride, of the trust, told The News.

‘We are tantalisingly close to the next major step (refloating) of the historical Royal Navy warship.

‘It is the intention of the trust to refloat HMS Bronington early in 2023 and commence the initial stages of restoration at a local shipyard.

‘The initial stages will include the slipway landing of the vessel on a bespoke steel cradle and repairing/replacing the damaged double planked mahogany hull and sealing all underwater fittings, thus ensuring watertight integrity in preparation for refloating.

‘Further restorative work will be put out for competitive tendering to satisfy the requirement of charitable status and application for financial grants.’

Salvage specialists Briggs Marine and the salvage consultants ABL are preparing updated salvage estimates to reflect the free use of a 350t capacity ‘heavy lift’ crane and free use of salvage equipment courtesy of Ambipar Response Limited/Maritime Coastguard Agency.

The mission has also been buoyed by others stepping up to help recently.

‘A major ship builder has contacted the trust and has pledged a sum of money to aid the restoration of the ship. The amount will be confirmed by further discussions and when salvage and landing costs are known,’ Mr McBride said.

‘A second major ship builder has given us the free services of a Naval Architect, to plan the slipway recovery of the vessel and design a suitable steel cradle to support the ship during restoration This has saved the trust thousands of pounds.’

The trust has now crowdfunded enough to apply for charitable status with the group optimistic that within eight weeks from application, HMS Bronington will be a charity, enabling the application of financial grants from charitable sources.

‘Generous’ support from the Liverpool Royal Naval Association has also seen the trust accrue over £11,000.

Confirmation has been received that Ambipar Response/Maritime Coastguard Agency will supply pumping equipment, fenders and ancillary salvage kit and a team to operate the equipment during the salvage operation.

They will underwrite the cost of removing Bronington from a dry dock or jetty location should she fall apart once dried out. In the event of a catastrophic failure she will be scrapped.

King Charles, speaking of efforts to save Bronington, said in June: ‘I was delighted to learn about the renewed efforts to salvage my old ship from her moorings in Birkenhead.

‘I have many fond memories of my time in HMS Bronington in 1976 and it is a particular pleasure to keep in touch with those who served onboard under my command.’

To donate go to: gofundme.com/f/help-restore-hms-bronington