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Tugs towing historic Navy ship to breakers in Erith
On July 17, 2026, the tugs 'GPS Iberia' and 'GPS Arcadia' left Chatham with the HMS 'President' in tow, bound for Erith, Kent, for scrap. The HMS 'President' (formerly HMS 'Saxifrage') was a retired Flower-class Q-ship that was launched in 1918. She was renamed HMS 'President' in 1922 and moored permanently on the Thames as a Royal Navy Reserve drill ship. In 1988 she was sold to private owners and, having changed hands twice, served as a venue for conferences and functions as well as the offices for a number of media companies. She was moved to Chatham on the Medway in Kent in 2016. The ownership was transferred to a charitable trust which launched a crowdfunding appeal to seek to raise funds for restoration, however grant applications submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund, the LIBOR fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund were all unsuccessful. In July 2026, it was announced that a survey had found the ship to be in very poor condition and that she was to be scrapped at Erith. She was the sole representative of the first type of purpose built anti-submarine vessels, and the ancestor of World War II convoy escort sloops, which evolved into modern anti-submarine frigates. Report and photos: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78y3nyd751o https://www.facebook.com/liquidhighway/posts/gps-iberia-and-gps-arcadia-have-arrived-in-chatham-dock-for-the-departure-of-hms/1679234347543158/ https://www.facebook.com/cwealthforces/photos/criminal-britain-is-scrapping-one-of-its-last-three-ww1-warships-and-the-prototy/1082661997618963/
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