HMS BRONINGTON
A diving survey of the minesweeper HMS Bronington, which is lying partially submerged in a basin on Merseyside, was carried out earlier this summer by marine specialists, who found that, with some minor remedial work on the hull to make her watertight, the ship is in a generally satisfactory condition and could be refloated.
As a result, a voluntary preservation trust has been formed with the objective of saving the ship. It plans to raise £100,000 to refloat and stabilise her before transporting her to a shipyard so that restoration can begin. Ideally, they would like to see her as a working ship once again, but if that proves too challenging they aim to return her to the role she fulfilled in the 1990s as a museum ship.
HMS Bronington is one of around 120 wooden-hulled Ton class minesweepers built in the 1950s. She served for nearly 35 years until being paid off in 1988. For ten months in 1976 she was commanded by King Charles III.