A WARSHIP ‘adopted’ by the people of Wellington in 1942 could soon be consigned to the scrapheap.

HMS Wellington, the last surviving World War 2 transport ship, has been moored on the Thames since 1948. The vessel played a vital role in the war, when it helped convoy essential goods across the Atlantic, and is credited with helping to sink a German U-boat.

In recent months the town council had explored forging closer links with HMS Wellington, which also earns mention in the history books for its involvement in the evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk.

Since 2005 ownership of the vessel had laid with the Wellington Trust, which maintained HMS Wellington as a heritage asset. But it is understood the trust fell on hard times, and contacted the town council for help.

In February, Cllr Keith Wheatley said he intended to embark on a fact-finding mission to visit the ship in London to see what, if anything, the local authority could do to support it. But the situation seems to have quickly gone from bad to worse, with the trust saying it needs to raise £150,000 to save the ship from scrap.

On Wednesday, May 29, trustees and honoured guests gathered aboard the decks of HMS Wellington to celebrate the ship’s 90th anniversary, and launch a fundraising appeal. Speaking at the event, chairman of the board of trustees Alastair Chapman issued a dire warning over Wellington’s future.

He said: “We are officially launching our Wellington@90 fundraising appeal. Quite simply, without additional monetary support, Wellington’s planned bright future is at risk. 

“I appeal to anyone who is in a position to do so, to help and support our Wellington@90 fundraising efforts.  All contributions of any size will be in memory of those who died during this campaign so that future generations can learn about their sacrifice.

“We are also fully open to potential donations, sponsorship or partnership arrangement discussion that will help secure Wellington’s future.”

The charity said all the funds raised would go toward maintaining HMS Wellington as a heritage asset, in conjunction with developing a business plan to make it more accessible to the public as a visitor attraction. The charity’s Gofundme had as of Wednesday, June 5, only raised £4,630.

The perilous state of Wellington’s future was revealed just weeks after the ship was graced by a royal visit from HRH The Princess Royal, who was received on the ship’s decks with 120 ‘friends and supporters.’

According to the trust, Princess Anne said the Wellington had a ‘unique’ place in history and thanked volunteers for their work to preserve the ship, which she said was an important London landmark.

According to reporting in The Telegraph, former First Sea Lord, Lord West, has branded the threat of Wellington’s scuppering as a “scandal.”

Although the town of Wellington adopted its namesake warship in 1942, naval records appear to show it was actually named for the capital of New Zealand, as opposed to the Somerset town.