Both periscopes from the Submarine Service’s most important relic will be removed on Wednesday in the latest stage of a £6.75m revamp for HMS Alliance.
The 40ft scopes have not moved on the boat, on display at the RN Submarine Museum in Gosport, since she was decommissioned in 1973.
A submariner admires Alliance on her new cradles as she goes on display in Gosport around 1980
THE periscopes of the ‘living memorial’ to Royal Navy submariners will move for the first time in four decades on Wednesday when they’re removed from HMS Alliance.
The two 40ft scopes – one general, one attack – are due to be lifted from the 67-year-old boat in Gosport in the latest stage of a £6.75m conservation project for the submarine, which has been on display to the public for three decades at the RN Submarine Museum.
Sitting on a cradle over the water, Alliance is visited by around 50,000 people every year – but the elements and birdlife have ravaged her, prompting the ambitious restoration plan.
The restoration of the boat, which began a year ago and will continue until the summer of 2013, will repair her hull – some parts were so badly corroded they were in danger of falling into the harbour – see a floor built beneath her so allow visitors to inspect Alliance from below, and the messes kitted out to reflect the different decades in which she served. What museum staff call ‘interactive soundscapes’ will also be installed to reflect how Alliance looked and felt on operations.
Alliance arrives in Portsmouth for the final time in 1973 flying her paying-off pennant
As for the periscopes, both will undergo a complete overhaul by Babcock in Faslane, returning them to working order. The attack scope is made of bronze and dates from Alliance’s construction in 1945.
Neither periscope has moved an inch since 1973 when HMS Alliance was decommissioned; there is some trepidation among staff about how difficult it will be to draw the periscopes out of their wells and up the length of the conning tower.
“We‘ve done all the preparation and studied all the old manuals, but at the end of the day we will be holding are breath and hoping they come out without a problem,” said museum curator Bob Mealings.
Weather and other conditions permitting, two large cranes are due to carry out the delicate removal operation between 9am and 10am on Wednesday.
