Lord Mountbatten's daughter joins campaign to save HMS Whimbrel from scrap yard

London, Feb 16(ANI): Lord Mountbatten's daughter, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, has appealed directly to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to help bring the last Battle of the Atlantic warship home to Britain and save it from being scrapped.

Lady Mountbatten wrote to Mubarak for help after negotiations with the Egyptian Government to buy HMS Whimbrel, a Black Swan-class sloop built in Glasgow in 1942, stalled.

HMS Whimbrel is currently owned by the Egyptian Navy and used as a training ship at Alexandria Naval Dockyard.

Earlier, the HMS Whimbrel Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Ship charity had agreed to buy the ship for 250,000 pounds as the UK's only official memorial to the battle.

"The Battle of the Atlantic was of paramount importance to our final victory in the Second World War. Ships like HMS Whimbrel were vital to that success," The Telegraph quoted Lady Mountbatten, as saying.

"If Whimbrel is broken up it will cause immense distress to the remaining sailors of that generation and we will lose a link with those who sacrificed so much for us," she added.

In her letter to President Mubarak, she wrote: "As the daughter of Lord Mountbatten, nothing would give me greater happiness than to know this gallant little warship will return to her home port of Liverpool."

She added: "Every effort would be made to guarantee the memory of Egypt's courageous sailors and the sacrifice they made for Britain and the Allies will never be forgotten."

Lady Mountbatten also wrote to the Egyptian Ambassador to Britain explaining the problem and asking him to direct her letter to President Mubarak.

It is expected that HMS Whimbrel will be permanently berthed at Canning Dock in Liverpool, if it is saved from being scrapped. (ANI)