Former Leander-class frigate HMS Scylla is due to start her new career as a sunken reef off the coast of Cornwall tomorrow.

Scylla, built in Devonport Dockyard in the 1960s, was bought by the National Marine Aquarium last year, and spent months in 8 Dock in Devonport, being prepared for her last trip to sea.

DML have overseen the extensive work to strip out equipment and cut holes into her hull and superstructure to allow access by divers to the ship’s interior.

Her masts and funnel have been cut down to the level of the bridge roof, and when she finally drifts to the sea bed in Whitsand Bay, there will be around three or four metres of clearance above her.

After explosive charges have opened her hull to the sea, she is expected to sink within two or three minutes, and will become an adventure playground for divers and a new home for marine creatures.

Some 60 specialists have put in more than 20,000 man-hours of work on the old frigate, which paid off in December 1993.

During her final weeks in dock, many ex-sailors who served in her have taken a last look, including her final Commanding Officer, Capt Mike Booth, who said: “I am very interested in the project and am delighted that she will be put to such good use.”

Melanie Cowie, the Aquarium’s Communications Manager, said: “Purchasing the frigate from the MOD has to be one of the more unusual acquisitions for the National Marine Aquarium to date.

“HMS Scylla only had ‘one careful owner’, the Royal Navy, so we were very pleased to be able to take this exciting project forward.”

A wander round the ship in the days before she made her last journey was an odd experience, writes Mike Gray.

Work was still proceeding apace, with large and heavy items such as hatches being removed by crane through holes which were never there when she was in her prime.

And it was the presence of so many holes that was one of the strangest aspects of the old ship – officers’ cabins suddenly had a sense of spaciousness as large sections of hull have been removed, and new access routes have opened up the interior of the frigate.

Plenty of equipment has been left on board to interest the leisure divers. The operations room, for example, has plenty of machinery still in place, and there is plenty to see in the engine room as well.

There are still washbasins to be seen, and many walls now bear graffiti from visits by former crew members. Contractors’ electric lamps created brightly-lit areas, but other sections were shrouded in an eerie half-light, echoing with the muted sound of work in another part of the ship.

And as the rain hammered down on the day of my visit, it was almost as if the ship was resigned to her fate – large puddles covered much of the rusting decks, and water poured through holes in the superstructure to cascade down into the hull.

Access points to the hull are all clearly marked with warning signs, and along her flanks, where her pennant number F71 was painted, is the name of her new owners and the website address.

The fact that there is little superstructure gives her a very rakish look – no doubt an impressive sight when she comes to rest in her final berth, and a very different experience for the divers who apparently will be flocking to the bay this summer for a chance to take a look for themselves.