Clyde Naval Heritage has since signed a deal with Tricolor Collective to raise funds to help pay for the transport and restoration of the retired warship.
Efforts are now underway to move a decommissioned Pakistan Navy frigate to the UK, requiring the 50-year-old warship to make a 6,000-mile journey from the port of Karachi. However, that frigate—the now-retired PNS Tariq—is far from an ordinary vessel. Commissioned in 1975, it began service as the Royal Navy’s HMS Ambuscade—and is today the sole surviving warship to have seen service during the 1982 Falklands War.
The UK-based charity Clyde Naval Heritage, which aims to preserve the shipbuilding history of the River Clyde, has sought to see the former HMS Ambuscade returned to the UK. The plan calls for the frigate to be docked as a floating museum near the Yarrow shipyard on the River Clyde in Glasgow, where the warship was built in the 1970s.
The HMS Ambuscade’s Service in the Falklands War
HMS Ambuscade was part of the Royal Navy’s flotilla that took part in the Falklands War, serving as an electronic warfare picket ship. The frigate carried out bombardments of Argentine positions on the islands.
A decade after the conflict, the warship was sold to Pakistan in 1993 and served for three decades as the PNS Tariq before being retired in 2023.
As previously reported, the Type 21 frigate remains the last warship from the 1982 conflict between the UK and Argentina over control of the remote Falkland Islands. A total of 43 Royal Navy warships, supported by 22 Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships and 62 merchant vessels, were deployed from the UK to the waters of the South Atlantic to repel Argentina’s invasion of those islands. It was the largest Royal Navy armada since World War II, and the ensuing conflict saw five British warships sunk—also the most since World War II.
Surviving warships from the conflict were later sold to other nations, and saw service in the navies of Brazil, Chile, India, and Pakistan. Among those was the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (R12), which was sold to India in 1986 and operated by the Indian Navy as the INS Viraat until 2017. Efforts to save the carrier as a museum in India were unsuccessful, and the ship was scrapped.
Perhaps in no small part because India failed to save the former HMS Hermes, Pakistan agreed to donate the retired PNS Tariq for the preservation project—forgoing the funds it would have received by selling the warship to a scrap yard.
How Do You Sail a Mothballed Ship Halfway Around the World?
Last year, a team from the UK traveled to Karachi to determine how the ship could be safely transported back to British waters. However, plans were even put on hold—due in part to concerns that the frigate would make a tempting target for the Iranian-backed Houthis, who had been carrying out strikes on commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea.
Over the last few months, however, the Houthis have scaled back their attacks, and efforts can now proceed.
Clyde Naval Heritage has since signed a deal with Tricolor Collective to lead efforts in raising funds from public and private donations to help pay for the transport and subsequent restoration of the retired warship.
“We are delighted to be working with Tricolor. Their expertise in transforming ideas into fundable, impactful projects will help us take Clyde Naval Heritage to the next level,” David O’Neill, founder of Clyde Naval Heritage, told Herald Scotland. “The Clyde’s shipbuilding heritage is a powerful symbol of Scottish innovation, craftsmanship, and industrial strength. We intend to harness that legacy to drive the regeneration of a region that has seen significant decline.”
Clyde Naval Heritage had previously sought to bring the 147-year-old tall ship Falls of Clyde, the last surviving iron-hulled oil tanker, home to Port Glasgow from Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii. However, that deal fell through, and the tall ship is set to be scrapped later this year.
Fortunately, HMS Ambuscade is almost certain to meet a better fate. Soon, it is likely to be the centerpiece of a new museum and cultural center on the River Clyde.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
