She started life as part of the German Navy in WW2 and later played a crucial role in the Cold War. Now naval historians have come to the rescue of the last surviving German Schnellboot, which is languishing in a dockyard in Plymouth.
In her day the S130, right, was the fastest craft on the sea, and neither the Royal Navy nor the Americans had anything that could match her 55 knot top speed. After the war S130 was surrendered to the Royal Navy and was used to drop agents on the Baltic coast.
The cost of restoring her is more than £4 million but a group of enthusiasts are hoping to persuade the Heritage Lottery Fund she is worth saving. Wyn Davies, a naval architect, said: “She is the last survivor of a hugely important class of warship that gave our coastal forces quite a headache.”
To read further about the preservation of S130, look here.
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