All aboard the HMS Gallus as ‘cheeky Glaswegian’ request seals deal to bring warship home

It was one of the fleet of warships that played a heroic role in the Falklands conflict 42 years ago.

Clyde-built frigate HMS Ambuscade survived an attack by Argentinian Exocet missiles to bring its crew of nearly 200 sailors home safely from the war in 1982.

Now it is set to make a triumphant return to the city it was built in to serve as a floating museum dedicated to the Falklands.

The 384ft vessel had been sold to Pakistan’s navy in the 1990s but will be repatriated after being acquired by Glasgow businessman David O’Neill.

The director of Clyde Naval Heritage said he secured the ship, which had been renamed PNS Tariq, for free after making a ‘cheeky Glaswegian’ request to its owners. The Yarrow-built vessel was set to be destroyed by being used for target practice in training exercises after being decommissioned last summer.

After three years of talks, Mr O’Neill is in the final stages of planning its return from Karachi. He said: ‘I took the cheeky Glaswegian tongue-in-cheek approach with Pakistan and said, “We would like this ship but we’ve got no money”.

‘They said she was worth $2million even as scrap and said, “You think we will give you this ship for nothing?” But they agreed. It has produced a fantastic response here and in Pakistan. It’s uniting communities.’

HMS Ambuscade on launch day at the covered slipway at Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow in  1973

Mr O’Neil secured the ship, which had been renamed PNS Tariq, for free after making a ‘cheeky Glaswegian’ request to its owners 

Unrest in the Red Sea has complicated the logistics but the Ambuscade is expected to be moved to the Clyde in four months by a US heavy-lifting vessel.

Mr O’Neill hopes to secure a permanent berth for the ship in Glasgow or Greenock and said it could attract more than 350,000 visitors a year as part of a bigger collection of Falklands artefacts.

The Ambuscade was one of eight Amazon-class frigates commissioned by the Royal Navy from 1974 to 1978. Two of its sister ships – Antelope and Ardent – were sunk during the Falklands War.