I am restoring a WW2 air/sea rescue boat, ST (or seaplane tender) 437, aka the Dame Vera Lynn. When I bought her in 2017 she was in a terrible condition and was heading for the scrapheap, like so many of her contemporaries; one of her engines had blown, she leaked like a sieve and her coachwork and deck were rotten. I have now been working on her, almost single-handedly, for five years and she is starting to come back to life.

You can go to our website: st437.org to find out how she came to be called the Dame Vera Lynn.

During the war, Vera, as she is now, or ST437 as she was then, was stationed at Porthcawl in South Wales where she was attached to RAF Stormy Down. Daily she would perform rescues on military and civilian vessels as well as her key role of picking up air crews who had ditched in the Bristol Channel returning from active duty, possibly hunting the 'wolf pack' in the north Atlantic. The actual records are scarce but we do know:

1/11/41, 46 A/SR Unit November 1941 Porthcawl, attached to Stormy Down

19/12/43, to 97MU Ferryside, attached to 43 Group

4/7/44, returned to 46 A/SR Unit November 1941 Porthcawl, attached to Stormy Down

31/12/45, Recorded in Coastal Command Census

10/7/46, to 1115MCU, Pembroke Dock

1/5/56, to Admiralty Small Craft Disposals and struck off charge .

After the war she remained with the RAF until disposal by the Admiralty in 1956. Thereafter she became a 'gentleman's cruiser' around the South Wales coast:

1959 – 1967 by Alan Leonard of Cardiff who named her Abakama

1968 – 1986 by R.D. Howell Jones of Porthcawl (and kept at Porthcawl during this period)

1987 – 2014 by Graham Cuthill of Penarth, and kept in Cardiff Bay

2014 - 2017 by Paul Childs, who set up the Watchet Floating WW2 Museum

The Howell Jones family have recently been in touch and have shared many stories of her life as a much-loved family boat during their custodianship and shared with me this postcard, from the late 60s showing (then) Abakama in Porthcawl harbour:

My intention is to return Vera to how she would have looked when she was launched at Hythe on Southampton Water in July 1941.

She has now been fully re-boarded to the topsides, her deck supports have been replaced and, internally, the structural members have been replaced and floor supports re-laid. The work is being done almost exclusively with hand tools; as a former cabinet maker I especially enjoy crafting the wood (and Vera is entirely wooden). I do use a few hand power tools, however, and have just invested in a very cheap rip saw.

You can follow my progress on Facebook - @damevera437 - or on our website: st437.org and feel free to get in touch.

This project is entirely self-funded. From a budget of £30,000, with a £10,000 contingency, the total spend to date is £22,078 which includes all costs other than the initial purchase price. The workshop is free, with thanks to Matthew Adams, so any money raised will be spent directly on consumables - timber, screws, bolts, etc. To give you an idea, a 1 1/2 " silicon bronze screw costs 24p; that is the smallest size of screw on the boat and she is alleged to have around 40,000 screws, all of which need replacing.

If you feel you would like to make a donation, however small, it will be very gratefully accepted and will be put to extremely good use.

Thank you very much.