Medusa wins the lottery.
After the article about Medusa that appeared in the last edition of “Scantlings”, I received many e mails supporting our bid with the Heritage Lottery to keep Medusa at sea. The good news is that we have been successful and the HLF has awarded us just short of £1m towards a major refit of the vessel.
The decision was made at the HLF meeting on 17 March but it was not until contract and other documents were completed and signed that it could be made public.
The HLF press release reads:
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has secured the future of a historic ship which led British forces on D-Day and was reviewed by the Queen at this year’s Traflagar 200 celebrations. The HLF grant of almost £1m has been awarded to the Medusa Trust to ensure the former HMS Medusa remains fully seaworthy and open for visitors to enjoy.
The Medusa, one of only 58 vessels in the Core Collection of UK Historic Ships and its three seaworthy former warships, is in need of a major refit if she is to stay on the water. The HLF funds will make this possible and ensure that the story of this intrepid Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HDML) is told to the widest possible audience.
In recent years, Medusa has only been seen in public at maritime events with her movements limited mainly to the Solent. The restoration will extend her life by 60 years and allow her to travel further, visiting new audiences at the London Boat Show, around the Isle of Wight, Weymouth, Poole, Chatham, Portsmouth and even docking at foreign ports.
Tessa Hilder, HLF Regional Manager for the South East of England said: “This major Heritage Lottery Fund investment is very timely as we celebrate the 60 th anniversary of the end of World War Two and the British victory at Trafalgar.
“Maritime heritage is an essential part of the South coast’s character and continues to be extremely popular with local people and visitors. HLF is thrilled to be able to secure the Medusa’s future and reveal her story for everyone to explore and learn about.”
A joint navigational leader for Omaha beach on D-Day, the Medusa marked the route through minefields for the invasion force. Notably, she accepted the surrender of German forces in 1945 at ljmuiden (Holland) and was the first allied ship to navigate the North Sea Canal to Amsterdam. Post war she became a survey vessel and was the last of this class in naval service. In 1968 she was saved from the naval scrap yard by private owners and since passed to the Medusa Trust.
With this investment, the ‘Medusa Experience’ will be improved, giving visitors the chance to volunteer on board, experiencing what it was like on a small vessel travelling to D-Day or as part of the Coastal Defence Force.
In addition, the Trust will develop portable interpretation materials in several languages, such as information boards which can be displayed on board or beside the Medusa to explain its past and involve visitors wherever she docks.
A new website detailing the history and fate of HDML crafts will be created and also a display of heritage materials which give a real feeling for the South’s wartime maritime heritage. An upgrade of the Trust’s own website is planned, including a new virtual tour and increased access to the archives on the craft.
Alan Watson, Chairman of the Medusa Trust added: “Medusa creates great interest wherever she goes, visitors range from veterans through to young children. Without this grant, this would have been our last year at sea. The Trustees and volunteers are all delighted that we will also be able to preserve the unique skills required to operate the vessel and show her off to a wider audience”
Mike Boyce, who has been Medusa’s skipper for nearly 40 years
added ”It is down to the hard work of her original owners in Weymouth and
latterly the volunteers in Portsmouth and Southampton that Medusa has survived
so long. The grant will ensure that all the hard work was not in vain and
that she will now survive as a piece of living history for many years to come”.
Now the real work begins. The project encompasses the vessel refit, creation of a website (at present www.hmsmedusa.org.uk is only a few pages), multilingual interpretation materials and a great deal more to make sure that Medusa is not only seen but understood. We plan to expand the website to cover the history of all 480 HDML’s and are actively collecting material for this.
The refit entails re-planking the main deck and some of the hull as well as replacement of beam shelves and some deck beams and a major overhaul of the two Gardner 8L3 engines. We shall soon be putting out a tender to select a yard for some of this work. Over the last two years we have put together a set of drawings for the vessel but are still short of some, particularly those describing the electrical system. We are also hunting for parts so if you happen to have a set of blocks and heads for an 8L3 or a 2 pounder (MkXII on MkIX mounting) in the garden shed we would like to heard from you.
We anticipate the project will take all next year and the early part of 2006 but by the summer of that year you should see Medusa back in the water looking pristine as one of the few Core Collection vessels that is regularly at sea.