Defence Royal Navy: Ex-Portsmouth ship HMS Scimitar transformed by Gosport workers into hospital ship MV Lady Jean By Freddie Webb Trainee Reporter Comment Published 30th Sep 2024, 12:19 BST Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now A former Royal Navy vessel which called Portsmouth her home and was often deployed with the Gibraltar Squadron has been given a new lease of life. HMS Scimitar has been converted into the hospital ship MV Lady Jean following a construction project in Gosport.
The former Scimitar-class patrol boat will now be operating in Africa as a medical vessel. Her heritage and new role was hailed at a naming ceremony in Portsmouth. Engineers and specialists at UK Docks have been carrying out the conversion after the ship was purchased from the Royal Navy by the The Vine Trust charity , which runs medical and building expeditions in Tanzania.
Charles Barley, UK Docks director at Endeavor Quay said: “It was an unusual and interesting project for us to work on and it brought several challenges we had to rise to as we worked through the conversion but it was really satisfying for the team.” Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The gleaming new MV Lady Jean is lifted back into the water by the UK Docks Marine Services team ahead of her long journey from Gosport to Lake Victoria. The former HMS Scimitar, a Royal Navy patrol boat used in Gibraltar, has been converted into a medical vessel.
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