What happened to the other exhibits?
Woodside Ferry to be new home for rescued U-boat
Jun 27 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post
A GERMAN U-boat which was part of Wirral’s historic warship collection is to be moved to Woodside Ferry terminal as a spectacular new visitor attraction.
Merseytravel announced plans to rescue the stricken U534 which has lain on Birkenhead docks since the warships museum closed last year.
The U-boat, which was launched in February 1942, will be re-sited at the Woodside Ferry Terminal, and plans submitted to Wirral Council include a visitor exhibition centre, which will also house artefacts from the submarine.
The boat will be cut into three sections for transportation to its new site by water, using a floating crane.
When it arrives at Woodside, huge, high-quality glazed panels installed over the end of each section will allow visitors to see inside the submarine from specially-built viewing platforms.
Neil Scales, chief executive and director general of Merseytravel, which owns and operates the Mersey Ferries, said the plan to create the attraction at Woodside would reaffirm the position of the ferries as the region’s most popular paid-for attraction.
Mr Scales said: “We are still in negotiations with specialists about moving U534, but work can start as soon as we receive planning permission which, we anticipate, will be in September.”
He added: “Our scheme will also complement the wider regeneration of the Woodside development, which is the subject of a master plan.”
U534 was never involved in active combat during WWII but used for training and later meteorological purposes.
On May 5, 1945, the U-boat was sailing in the Kattegat, northwest of Helsingor and ordered to surrender, but refused to do so. Without flying a flag of surrender, she was attacked and took heavy damage, with 49 of the 52 crew members surviving.
David Ball, head of housing and regeneration at Wirral Council, said the authority was “supportive” of the plans, which he said could “do for Woodside what Spaceport has done for Seacombe”.
Farewell to daughter of Mersey
By Larry Neild, Daily Post - June 14 2006
SHE was built in Birkenhead and yesterday the submarine HMS Onyx bid a final farewell to the Mersey.
Without pomp and ceremony the 300-ft long vessel gently slipped out of the river, towed by two tugs, for a new home in Barrow-in-Furness.
Onyx is the first vessel from the Historic Warships Collection to depart following the collapse of the warships’ trust earlier this YEAR.
A similar fate awaits the rest OF what has been called the country’s biggest collection of historic warships.
Last night Wally Bennett, who ran the Birkenhead tourist attraction that attracted 30,000 visitors a year was dismayed.
He said: “Yet again Merseyside has lost a golden opportunity to develop a fantastic maritime experience.”
A small number of protesters were moved on by police after unfurling a Save Our Subs banner at the docks. Wirral Council leader Cllr Steve Foulkes said: “The council was in a dilemma because while we did our best to help keep the collection here there has been no takers coming up with funding. There has been plenty of tea and sympathy, but no hard cash.
“We put in £50,000 to keep hopes alive, but the collection went to the Merseyside Docks and Harbour Company by default when the trust went into liquidation. It is a very sad day for Merseyside.
“I am still hopeful that at some time we can see the collection built up either in Wirral or Liverpool to celebrate our rich maritime and shipbuilding tradition. We are open to offers.”
The ex-Royal Navy submarine will be turned into a tourist attraction in Cumbria.
HMS Onyx was sold for £100,000 to a businessman, sparking the start of the break-up of the warship collection which has been under threat since the company running it went into liquidation.
Sir Philip Goodhart, who brought the historic warships to Merseyside, had called on Wirral Council and MDHC to save the submarine and the collection.
He said: “It is the finest collection of 20th century warships in the country and I hope that they will be reopened soon.”
MDHC, which owns Birkenhead Docks as part of the Port of Liverpool, has transferred possession to the Submarine Centre at Barrow Island.
Two tugs towed the submarine from its berth at Vittoria Dock and out of the River Mersey. A single tug continued the voyage along the coast to Barrow, 60 miles to the north.
The 300ft Oberon class diesel submarine, which took part in the Falklands War, has been bought by Joe Mullens, who runs a company in Lincolnshire but is from Barrow, after he beat off a bid by a rival group from Gibraltar.
Wirral’s head OF regeneration, David Bell, said the council had been IN talks WITH private companies AND the Government who they hoped would give them the final £150,000 needed TO keep the ships.
Budhar Majumdar, managing director OF Mersey Ports, said: “Mersey Docks has accommodated HMS Onyx and other warships from the collection since the museum closed following liquidation of the trust. During that time we have been in discussion with interested parties in an attempt to secure a future for the ships.
“Throughout this period AS TEMPORARY caretaker, Mersey Docks has stressed that this IS NOT an exercise IN making a profit, but IN finding a solution TO the problem AND recovering the inevitable costs the company has incurred - hence the undisclosed SUM involved IN the transfer OF possession OF HMS Onyx.”
Mersey Docks is now looking for new homes for the rest of the collection.
larryneild@dailypost.co.uk
For more on Onyx see http://www.submarineheritage.com/onyx.html
Planet Awaits her fate in Canning Dock
Will she be banished to Salford, or will she be saved as a symbol of the port of Liverpool?
“Planet” has been moved to Canning Dock alongside the Dock Road and close to
Mann Island.
A Message from the Chairman of the MLPS
I should like to thank everyone who has given their support to our endevours to keep the Planet lightvessel in the Port of Liverpool.
On Wednesday 14th we presented a letter to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool asking that she might appoint an arbitrator to solve the problems between the interested parties.
From the Town Hall we proceeded to the Lightship where press photographs were taken. At 11.45 we were on the Air during the Tony Snell programme on Radio Merseyside.
At all venues we were very impressed with the feeling that had been generated with what we were trying to do and everybody wished us well and said that they would assist us in our goal. The two local papers The Daily Post and The Echo have featured large editorials.
The support on our Web site has surpassed anything we could have imagined. We are pleased to report that the dead line to leave has been extended into the middle of April which I am sure is the result of our effort. The battle has not yet been won but we feel more confident of our prospects.
Once again Many Thanks, Stan McNally 17 March 2007
For more on the Planet see http://www.barlightvessel.org.uk/index.html