Always_a_Civvy
ADC

I have been browsing through Radio 4's archives online and came across a programme from 2002 which includes an item on the restoration of Holland I, the RN's first submarine, now at Gosport. You can listen to the programme in full, including this item here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/leadingedge_20021114.shtml
The BBC4 site blurb reads...
The BBC4 site blurb reads...
Conservation Prize for First Royal Navy Submarine
A project to restore and conserve the Royal Navy's first submarine has just won the prestigious Pilgrim Trust Conservation Award. Holland 1, built in 1901, was recovered from the seabed in 1982. After 12 years on display outside at Gosport's Royal Navy Submarine Museum her surface was badly rusting and attempts at repainting proved futile. Conservation to halt the corrosion attacking her surface was desperately needed. As the submarine was too fragile to move, the team working on the sub had to come up with a way of preserving her in situ. To neutralise the corrosive action, a tank was built around the submarine and 800,000 litres of sodium carbonate solution pumped around her. A six year soaking successfully removed the thick alkaline coating that had built up on her surface. And now a painted finish not only preserves the sub, but also tries to re-enact how the sub might have looked back in 1901. Conservator Ian Clark has used a preserving wax oil mixed with a pigments to re-create the camouflage used on submarines during this time. Holland 1 is now on display in her newly built humidity-controlled gallery which Curator Bob Mealings hopes will help preserve her indefinitely.