LAST-DITCH efforts are being made to save HMS Plymouth – one of the last surviving warships from the Falklands conflict – from being scrapped.

Rosyth man Jon Harrison, who served on the ship when she was attacked and caught fire in the Falklands, still hopes a legal bid can stop the Plymouth’s demise even though she is already en route to a breaker’s yard in Turkey.

The ship and her crew famously received a rapturous welcome from crowds on the Forth Road Bridge when she sailed back to her base at Rosyth after the conflict in the South Atlantic in 1982.

“There are still things ongoing,” said Mr Harrison (57). “The ship is currently off Portugal but getting closer and closer to Turkey and the blowtorches. We raised £5000 to employ a maritime barrister who still is looking into the legality of it. Peel Ports sold it for scrap but there is a question mark over whether they had the right to do that as they don’t legally own it.” The ship was last week towed out of Birkenhead where she has been berthed for more than a decade, initially as part of a visitor attraction but latterly an unwanted eyesore.

Mr Harrison, of Backmarch Crescent, wanted the Plymouth to be brought to Rosyth as the centrepiece of a martime museum but his plans failed to materialise.

The ship was badly damaged after being struck with five bombs after coming under Argentinian fire towards the end of the hostilities.

It had earlier been the scene of the Argentinian surrender at South Georgia, played a vital role in SAS landings in the Falklands and also was the first vessel to sail into Port Stanley after its recapture.

After being repaired at Rosyth the ship returned to service and was eventually decommissioned in 1988.

The Historic Warships Preservation Trust originally rented a berth for HMS Plymouth in 1990 from the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company but when it went into liquidation in 2006 the ship’s future became increasingly uncertain.

Mr Harrison said, “I tried to get her based back in Rosyth. I had a conversation with a couple of the councillors and John Muir, of the Rosyth Waterfront.

“I tried really hard to get it sorted out and had a business plan with a visitor centre, cafe, exhibition centre. There was a guy who was going to donate a Harrier to us and somebody was going to donate a Gannet.

“A lot of stuff came back from the Falklands, Argentinian vehicles and tanks that were captured. A lot of people were interested in long-term loans and it would have been ideal there.

“She was based in Rosyth at the time of her finest hour, the Falklands. After coming back she was a bit of a mess after getting bombed but the Rosyth Dockyard did such a good job repairing her that even though she was due to be scrapped she kept going for a few years longer and went back out in service with the fleet.

“The reception from the people at Rosyth was absolutely outstanding. It meant a lot to us because all our families were here. The welcome back here really touched our hearts.

“She languished in Birkenhead and a lot of ideas were put forward but it all came down to finance. With ships it all seems to come down to their scrap value and I just thought it was a shame to lose her.” The former shipmates still hold a reunion each year around the date of the bombing.

The 2150-tonne vessel, the last Rothesay class type 12 frigate afloat, was launched in 1959 and commissioned into the Royal Navy two years later.