THE last remaining piece of decking from a Second World War battleship scrapped almost 60 years ago is to return to sea – thanks to a Scottish furniture student.
The HMS Nelson was broken up at Inverkeithing in 1949 after serving in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian oceans during the war.
Built in 1923, the vessel took Winston Churchill from Scapa Flow in Orkney to Loch Ewe and hosted King George VI.
But at the end of its service, it was used as a target for aerial bombing exercises before being sold for scrap and taken apart in the Fife town.
However, a section of teak decking from the vessel remains and will now be transformed into a captain’s sea chest and given to the Royal Navy in a project which aims to “link the past and the future”.
Campbell Deeming, a 38-year-old student at the Chippendale International School of Furniture in Midlothian, began work on the project yesterday after winning a design contest.
Measuring around 8ft long, the wood is heavily weathered on one side and was gifted to the institution, which is the only one of its kind in the country.
Deeming, from Aberdeenshire, is already a qualified boat builder and the finished article will be purchased by a benefactor and donated to the Royal Navy for use by the new captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the biggest warship currently in the fleet.
Monies from the transaction will then be given to charities associated with that ship.
Deeming said: “We’re hoping to create a national heirloom.
“It won’t be the complete size of a traditional captain’s chest, because those things were massive, but I’ll also make a lockable ‘ditty box’ for documents and valuables to be kept inside it.
“We’re hoping this will then become a symbol and be handed down by the navy.”
The HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to begin sea trials in September and, while details for the handover have not yet been confirmed, it is understood that it may take place in Portsmouth in the coming weeks.
Anselm Fraser, principal of the Haddington centre, told The National: “The Chippendale furniture school kindly donated a piece of decking from HMS Nelson and we held a competition at the school to determine how best to preserve this piece of history in an appropriate way.
“The idea of turning it into a captain’s sea chest and donating it to the Royal Navy for the use of the new captain of Britain’s biggest warship won the competition.
“The Royal Navy has been an enthusiastic partner in turning Campbell’s idea into reality – a fantastic example of how an old timber plank can be transformed into something new and provide a tangible link between the past and the future.”
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