laststandonzombieisland

If you are in England and have a chance, swing by the HMS Victory and check out M33. This humble little monitor of 568 tons with a shallow draft allowing it to get close-in to shore and fire at targets on land, carried two powerful and oversize 6” guns, but was a basic metal box lacking in comforts. The 72 officers and men who sailed for the Gallipoli Campaign were crammed inside and away from home for over 3 years.

She then saw active service in Russia during the Allied Intervention in 1919, narrowly escaping staying there the rest of her life, then was brought back to England where she served the RN up until 1984 as a hulk and floating office space.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) and Hampshire County Council (HCC) have worked as partners to develop the £2.4m project to conserve, restore and interpret HMS M.33  With a grant of £1.8m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) the ship will be made physically and intellectually open to all for the first time. The ship sits in No.1 Dock alongside HMS Victory in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and uniquely visitors will start with a 20-foot descent into the bottom of the dock before stepping aboard.