Vessel Acquisition

Three off Type 42 Destroyer were due to be disposed of by tender in March 2011 (HMS Cardiff, Exeter and Southampton).

A Type 42 Destroyer can be expected to be secured by a disposal tender in the region of £200,000 - £300,000, which needs to be raised by the Sussex Marine Trust in order to start the project proper. These funds could not be raised by the required tender date in March 2011
However, the outcome of the 2010 Strategic Defence Review will see additional Type 42 Destroyers being decommissioned.

HMS Manchester was decommissioned in February 2011 and is awaiting disposal, tenders are likely to be expected in August/September 2011.

Four more Type 42 Destroyers are to be decommissioned as the new Type 45 destroyers become available. These are HMS Edinburgh, HMS Gloucester, HMS Liverpool and HMS York. These will become available over the 2011 to 2013 period.

In addition to the Type 42 Destroyers, the MoD are due to dispose of a number of other large ships under the Strategic Defence Review:

  • One Aircraft Carrier - HMS Ark Royal.
  • One Landing Support and Helicopter Platform - HMS Ocean or Illustrious.
  • Four off Type 22 Frigates – HMS Campbeltown, Chatham, Cornwall and Cumberland.
  • A Hunt Class Mine Sweeper.
  • A Sandown Class Mine Sweeper.

The disposal of these ships provides the Sink One 4 Sussex project with contingency plans if a Type 42 destroyer cannot be secured. Alternatively one or more of these ships could be used in addition to a Destroyer to create a multi-reef diver attraction.