[sapper740]

It was Naval vessels that started me down the road of collecting militaria. As a young boy growing up on the shores of West Vancouver I was always delighted to see the warships slip in and out of Vancouver harbour, or at anchor in English Bay. From tall ships such as the Nippon Maru to the colossal USS Coral Sea, my boyhood mind dreamed of travel and adventure. All of our nations were built upon sea power and to not preserve that history does grave disservice to both those who went down to the sea in ships and the future generations who will only be able to read about such exploits. Ships that have been preserved become huge focal points of national pride and a history lesson that all who visit will never forget. Some countries have done much better at preserving their maritime traditions. Canada has the St. Roch on the west coast, the Sackville on the east coast, and the Haida in the middle...not nearly enough! Imagine if we had preserved the Rainbow, Bonaventure, or Prince David. What a focus of national pride those ships would be. The U.S. has done a much better job, I've had the privilege of visiting the USS Texas (BB35), USS Alabama (BB60), USS Missouri (BB63), and the USS Lexington (CV16) as well as numerous smaller vessels and submarines. There is even a preserved Mine Sweeper in Omaha, Nebraska and the PT 110 in Fredericksburg, Tx. for Heaven's sake! There are still many, many more ships on my must visit list in the U.S. But none of these would be as rare as the Cerebus. What an opportunity Australia has and I hope the government has the foresight to preserve this valuable vessel while it still can. Derek.