HMS CAVALIER

  1.  You will recall that I wrote to you on 27 March in response to Recommendation (iv) of the Committee's Third Report, which sought a response by the end of March on the criteria for funding ship preservation on heritage grounds.

  2.  In my letter I described the Trustees' new policy and included an extract from the HLF's new guidelines, which were then published in April. I pointed out that Trustees' policy would not rule out future consideration of HMS Cavalier on heritage grounds, but that, to increase its chances of success, any future should make a case in relation to HLF's other criteria as well, including long-term viability. I also mentioned that we had been encouraging those expressing an interest to think in terms of a joint, single bid rather than competing applications. I also said (in my evidence) that the HLF would be able to offer a fast track procedure for the consideration of a bid within the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside's timetable for the disposal of HMS Cavalier.

  3.  I also wrote to you on 27 April to let you know that Medway Council had made an application, in association with the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust (CHDT) and the HMS Cavalier Association for a grant to finance a study into the feasibility of preserving and relocating HMS Cavalier. The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £37,575 towards the cost.

  4.  The technical study undertaken by TQMS concluded that there were no significant problems in preserving the ship for the foreseeable future, that the dock gates at Hebburn were sound enough for one more operation and that the ship should be kept in dry dock at Chatham. The feasibility study "base case" financial projections indicated that, prior to any transfer to a sinking fund for capital investment, the Cavalier project could return a small net surplus after Year 4 and a cumulative surplus in year 4. The "best case" projections indicated a small surplus by year 4.

  5.  Chatham made a formal bid in June for the long term restoration, preservation, display and interpretation (on board and on shore) of the history and technology of HMS Cavalier. HMS Cavalier is to form part of a three ship attraction at Chatham, which will assist the long-term viability of both the ship and of the historic dockyard. The inclusion of HMS Cavalier will instantly meet the key objective of the CHDT's 1996 development strategy of providing an "icon" ship at the historic dockyard. Moreover the preservation of the ship will act as a memorial to the people, particularly members of the Royal Navy, who gave their lives for the United Kingdom in WWII. The inclusion of HMS Cavalier also fits well with the CHDT's museum strategy and collecting policy, which seek to tell the story of the design and construction of warships for the Royal Navy. The bid had particular merits in terms of site suitability, public access, quality of interpretation and public understanding and public enjoyment of the heritage asset. CHDT has a strong track record and considerable experience in the management of ship restoration and routine maintenance of maritime artefacts. It already operates the submarine HMS Ocelot as a visitor attraction and is intending to restore as a visitor attraction, with HLF support, the Victorian sloop, HMS Gannet. The Trust is an MGC registered museum and has the expertise to interpret HMS Cavalier to the highest standards.

  6.  As you know, in July, the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded a Memorial Fund grant of £830,000 to the Cavalier project. In September 1998 Trustees agreed to increase this Memorial Fund grant to £961,000. At the same time, they also gave approval in principal for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of up to £600,000 for the interpretation of all three ships in the Chatham collection and improvements in public access to them.

  7.  The Memorial Fund grant of £961,000 will make possible: the acquisition of the ship from South Tyneside; works to remove her from the dry dock and initial repairs on the Tyne to make her seaworthy; major repairs also on the Tyne; towing to Chatham and preparation works to make the dry dock available for her at Chatham.

  8.  The next phase—stage 2—will be the preparation of Cavalier and implementation of the conservation plan, internal cleaning, visitor access and safety measures, on board interpretation, the memorial to the destroyer crews of World War II, and shoreside interpretation. The applicant has now submitted details of this stage with a view to obtaining a grant award in December 1998. CHDT regards it as crucial to their marketing and fund raising efforts that Cavalier should be displayed at Chatham in early May 1999, following repair work being undertaken on Tyneside, in time for the reintroduced Navy Day at Chatham. The destroyer will form the centrepiece of a new visitor attraction, Battleships—The Three Ship Attraction. We shall ensure that a decision is taken in time to meet the requirements of this timetable.

December 1998