HMS President Statement
Royal Navy Museums holds one of the world's largest collections of historic Royal Navy ships and has extensive experience of conserving nationally significant vessels. Over the last fifteen years, we have secured, conserved and placed on public display two surviving Royal Navy First World War warships, alongside the continued conservation of the Historic Fleet already in our care.
Our approach has always been that heritage significance must guide decisions. Not every surviving historic vessel can, or should, be preserved indefinitely. Responsible stewardship requires difficult choices about where limited charitable resources can deliver the greatest heritage benefit for future generations.
Equally, any proposal to preserve a historic ship must be financially sustainable over the long term. Conservation is not simply about saving a vessel today; it is about ensuring it can be maintained, interpreted and made accessible for decades to come. Taking on new vessels without a credible long-term funding model risks the future of the nationally important collection already entrusted to our care.
This principle underpins our recently launched Historic Fleet Endowment Fund, through which we are seeking to raise £10 million over the next three years to support the long-term conservation of the ships already within our collection.
Royal Navy Museums gave careful consideration to HMS President several years ago. While recognising the vessel's historic interest, our assessment was that its heritage significance did not justify the very substantial long-term financial commitment that would have been required to preserve it. We therefore concluded that there was no responsible or sustainable basis on which the Museum could assume ownership without compromising our ability to care for ships of greater national significance already within the collection.
Recognising the importance of recording the vessel, we worked with the owners to ensure that HMS President was comprehensively documented through laser scanning and photogrammetry, creating a permanent digital record for future research and interpretation.
Historic ships deserve careful, evidence-based decision-making. Our responsibility is to ensure that the finite resources available for maritime heritage are directed where they can secure the greatest long-term public benefit.