HMS Plymouth's Wasp.

I used to visit it in Birkenhead quite often when I lived up that way and to be honest the ship was never a major visitor attraction, there would normally only be a few cars in the car park so I can’t ever see it being a big revenue generator.

With respect, that probably had more to do with the location than anything; if you put the ‘London Eye’ in Birkenhead I doubt it would get many visitors…

…and HMS Plymouth survived there for many years.

The government has the money but HMS Plymouth, for some reason, doesn’t tick any of the right boxes.

Imagine it’s thirty years after the end of the Second World War and all the remaining aircraft from that conflict are lined up on the dockside at Birkenhead…

…do you imagine anybody (politicians aside) would scrap them all because of the expense of the museums than now house them?

Preserving any ship is massivly expensive. Preserving it in the water is even more expensive. Preserving it out of the water would be cheaper in the long run but massivly expensive in terms of capital cost of the facility that would need to be built to dry dock the ship.

Transporting it the Falklands, well you can guess the answer to that one – massivly expensive as the ship would need lots of work to make it safe to complete the trip then you have the ongoing maintenance costs once it gets there which would be far higher than in the UK due to the weather conditions down there. Plus the cruise ships only visit the islands for a few months of the year so revenue earning would be limited.

I used to visit it in Birkenhead quite often when I lived up that way and to be honest the ship was never a major visitor attraction, there would normally only be a few cars in the car park so I can’t ever see it being a big revenue generator.

These days things have to earn their keep and I can’t honestly see HMS Plymouth being able to do that. The Goverment just don’t have the spare cash to contribute to things like this which is a huge shame.

Apologies for stating the obvious, but would the Falkland Islanders be over the moon to get Plymouth?

And give her a permanent free home? Her preservation would also give a lot of bored servicemen something to do!
Guy

DUELY SIGNED!

Duely signed,,,,I can report back the Wasp is safe and looks splendid after a paint touch up here and there.

Looking for 2 upper rear canopy panels as we need replacements ….any steers welcome!

I’ve shared on FB also….

Ditto. And shared on facebook.

Me too.

Signed – Straight away!!!

Looks like there is a last ditch attempt to save the old girl –

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32526

Jon