THE future of a warship adopted by the town of Wellington has been secured after the trust which owns it was awarded a £225,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant.

HMS Wellington was an Atlantic convoy ship in the Second World War credited with completing more than 100 missions and saving more than 400 mariners.

The Grimsby-class sloop was built in Devonport in 1934 and was also involved in the Dunkirk evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940.

The ship was adopted in 1942 when residents were asked to help raise £120,000 for it, the equivalent of more than £7 million in today’s money.

Town councillors have been looking at ways to build on the link between the community and the warship, with Cllr Keith Wheatley appointed to liaise with the Wellington Trust which has maintained it as a heritage asset since 2005.

The trust launched a ‘revitalisation project’ two years ago and applied for lottery funding to help conserve the vessel for future generations.

It is moored on London’s River Thames Embankment and was threatened with being sent for scrap.

King Charles last year restored its ‘HMS’ status to mark both its 90th birthday and the 85th anniversary of Britain’s declaration of war in September, 1939.

The lottery funding will be used by the trust to encourage more people to visit the ship and to provide greater community engagement and educational opportunities to tell the story of HMS Wellington and the thousands of crew who served on her.

Trust chairman Dominic Tweddle said: “Ultimately, this will lead to the trust becoming financially self-sustaining so we can conserve this important vessel for everybody to enjoy and learn from.

“There is a lot to the Wellington story, and we look forward to welcoming many more people onboard in the future, thanks to National Lottery players.”