We've seen three ships go sailing by. Is Atherstone now facing up to end of century-old link with Royal Navy?

LATEST IN HISTORIC LINE GOING BACK TO FIRST WORLD WAR ADVERTISED FOR SALE

OPTIONS FOR 'STRIPPED' VESSEL INCLUDE HOUSEBOAT, RESTAURANT, FLOATING BAR OR EVEN OFFICE ACCOMMODATION

MODERN-DAY defence cuts could signal the end of a 100-year association for landlocked Atherstone and the high seas.

The latest in a distinguished line of Royal Navy vessels to carry the name of the town is heading for a new life as potentially a "unique houseboat, stylish restaurant, floating bar, or even office-space".

What is left of the decommissioned HMS Atherstone – stripped and engineless – could be off across the waters of the world as part of a UK government sale to another country.

Wherever she 'sails' to – the town could be waving goodbye to a naval link that stretches back to the First World War and has seen civic dignitaries associated with its various incarnations.

The third HMS Atherstone – part of a Hunt-class mine countermeasures squadron – began its life on the ocean waves in March 1986 with the highest pedigree, sponsored by Mrs Amy Jarvis, wife of the then Deputy Controller of the Royal Navy.

Accepted in service in November of the same year, it was commissioned in Portsmouth in early 1987.

For nearly 30 years it served its country, returning in December 2015 from a two-year deployment as part of Operation Telic in the Middle East, in support of coalition operations to promote and maintain peace in the Persian Gulf.

That basically signalled the end of her RN service as a planned refit in December of the following year didn't materialise and in October 2017 the Atherstone was told she would be decommissioned.

Last week the stripped down vessel – no longer in running condition and having had the engine removed – was advertised for sale.

The Defence Equipment Sales Authority is inviting "expressions of interest" from interested parties for "further use" based on utilising the hull and super structure, adding : "It has potential as a unique houseboat, a stylish restaurant, a floating bar, or even an office-space".

The vessel, currently moored at HM Naval Base Portsmouth, will be offered for sale until July 27 with viewing planned for late August or early September – Covid-19 permitting. .

The whole process could be overwritten by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace who may decide to accept an offer from a rival government for HMS Atherstone.

Atherstone town councillors will be sad to see her go – current leader Denise Clews, civic dignitaries Tony Clews and Ray Jarvis along with Ball Game stalwart Harold Taft all enjoyed a day on the vessel some years ago with Councillor Jarvis commenting it will be a "shame to see her go"

The first ship to take the name 'Atherstone' was a minesweeper, which saw active service in both world wars.

Launched in April 1916 – in the middle of World War I – she served with Auxiliary Patrol and after hostilities had ended transferred to the Mine Clearance Service.

She was sold to the New Medway Steam Packet Company in August 1927 and was renamed Queen of Kent. For a dozen years she could be found covering from Sheerness to Gravesend and on regular excursions involving Gravesend, Margate, Clacton and Dover as well as cross-channel voyages to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk.

In September 1939 she found herself back in action – requisitioned by the Admiralty for minesweeping duties in World War Two.

For the D-Day landings of Operation Overlord in June 1944 she was stationed at Peel Bank off the Isle of Wight as the Mulberry Accommodation & Despatch Control Ship.

Subsequently, she was stationed at Dungeness and the war returned to former owners – working around the Thames estuary until sold to Red Funnel in 1949 and transferred to Southampton, changing her name to Lorna Doone. Summer excursions from Bournemouth were the order of the day before being scrapped at Dover eastern Docks in 1952.

The second HMS Atherstone arguably enjoyed the most illustrious – and dramatic – career in its 18-year existence.

Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, she was launched in late 1939 as the first of her class – but very soon afterwards was found to be "dangerously" unstable.

A design error forced her to undergo significant modifications before entering service in March 1940 as naval action in World War Two was hotting up.

On September 11, 1940, while escorting Convoy CW11 in the Channel, Atherstone was hit by two bombs and near missed by a third, sustaining serious damage and killing five of the crew.

After repair at Chatham Dockyard, the ship rejoined the First Destroyer Flotilla in January 1941, resuming convoy escort duty in the Channel. In December 1941, after a refit at Southampton, Atherstone transferred to the 15th Destroyer Flotilla based at Devonport.

More action ensued. On March 26, 1942 Atherstone sailed from Falmouth as part of Operation Chariot, the St Nazaire raid.

This involved an amphibious assault on the French port of St Nazaire in France with the objective of destroying the gates of the Normandy dock by ramming them with an explosive-packed destroyer, Campbeltown, and so prevent the dock's use by the German battleship Tirpitz.

The HMS Atherstone and her sister ship Tynedale escorted Campbeltown and the remainder of the strike force.

Early the next day, Tynedale sighted the German submarine U-593, and the two escort destroyers attacked the U-boat. Although U-593 survived the attack, the destroyers forced the U-Boat to stay submerged for several hours, preventing it from interfering with the operation.

In May 1942 Atherstone transferred to the 16th Destroyer Flotilla, escorting convoys off the East coast of Britain and then to the Mediterranean, joining the 18th Destroyer Flotilla.

In July 1943, [I] Atherstone [I] took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, forming part of the naval force supporting the landing of the British XXX Corps south-west of Syracuse.

On November 26, 1943 she rescued about 70 survivors from the troopship HMT Rohna, which had been sunk by a Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb off the coast of French Algeria.

After the war she was paid off into the reserve and in 1953 was laid up at Cardiff.

She never moved – being sold for scrap in November 1957 for breaking up at Port Glasgow.