As well as the work on the guns – the most dramatic part of the ship – M33 is undergoing a facelift: which means removing years and years of rust and old paint. But – not all of it! Current thinking on preserving old artefacts holds that the process of decay is part of the story (up to the point where the actual object itself is in jeopardy.) So, the team from Ian Clark Restoration are careful not to overdo it, showing how the ship was changed over the years by her life experiences. It’s all the more important to take this careful, custodial approach as so much of what was original in M33 has been removed in the many changes she went through in her career. But she’s still very much the ship she was – and will be, for all to see.