History and Strategic Role
Launched on January 29th 1918 as HMS Saxifrage by Lobnitz & Company in Scotland, HMS President (1918) was a Flower-class Q-ship built during the First World War. Designed as a disguised merchant vessel meant to lure German U-boats to the surface before unmasking hidden 4-inch naval guns, she served as a direct ancestor to modern anti-submarine frigates and Second World War convoy escorts.
Recognised as one of only three surviving Royal Navy warships from the First World War and granted the official suffix "(1918)" to distinguish her from the later shore establishment in St Katharine Docks, she spent decades as a celebrated London landmark before structural deterioration and unsuccessful rescue campaigns ultimately led to her being towed to a scrapyard in July 2026.
During 1918, HMS Saxifrage actively escorted convoys in UK waters and engaged nine U-boats, as recorded in her official logbooks. While almost all other Flower-class vessels were disposed of following the peacetime years, she was permanently moored on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment in 1922 and renamed HMS President.
For seventy years, she functioned as a dedicated Royal Naval Reserve drill ship. During the Second World War, she served as a vital lifeline when her onboard pumps were utilised to draw river water to fight London fires after municipal water mains were destroyed.
Preservation and Civic Life
Sold to private entities in 1988, the ship was initially saved by the Inter-Action Social Enterprise Trust, run by ED Berman, serving as a hub for start-up companies, studios, and community projects. Resold in 2001 and later purchased by the MLS Group Plc in 2006, she operated as a corporate venue, function space, and media office.
In 2014, she was selected as one of four 'dazzle ships' for the Imperial War Museum's '14-18 Now' project, receiving a striking geometric livery by artist Tobias Rehberger to honour WWI wartime camouflage.
Relocation and Scrap Fate
Her decades on the Thames came to a close in 2016, when she was forced to leave her iconic London home near Blackfriars Millennium Pier to accommodate the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel.
Towed to Chatham Docks in Kent, she sat in physical and financial limbo for a decade as unsuccessful grant applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund, LIBOR fund, and National Heritage Memorial Fund left restoration efforts stalled. After industrial site closures and structural surveys revealed severe deterioration and asbestos, restoration was deemed prohibitively costly.
Despite a final, desperate push by National Historic Ships UK and dedicated campaigners, the historic warship was officially towed to Erith, on July 17th 2026, where she is to be broken up.
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