Anyone who’s ever owned any kind of ship or boat knows well how fast deterioration can set in if the vessel isn’t being used the way she was intended. Witness the foliage RML 497 has acquired! (Picture.) So the team at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) had their work cut out to get her ready to voyage to her new home at their base in Hartlepool – where she’ll begin her new future, telling her and the Royal Navy’s WWII story to a new audience. This last surviving Fairmile motor launch has certainly endured many problems since she was taken out of service down in Devon – The NMRN are working hard and fast to sort everything out – rescuing her just as she rescued downed airmen at sea in her wartime service. Hang in there, 497!!