He said: “I was truly shocked by the news that she has been allowed to sink, particularly when one remembers the valiant men who crewed her and the soldiers who sailed in her, many of whom gave their lives that we might remain free.”

When used as the headquarters of the Merseyside Master Mariners’ Club, she was the first port of call for officers and sailors of visiting Royal Navy vessels.

After being commissioned in 1944, she was sent to join the Normandy invasion fleet. Tanks and troops of the Desert Rats were landed and in the following months she sailed back and forth across the Channel carrying equipment and fighting units.

Hostilities ceased while the 500-ton vessel was undergoing a refit in Liverpool. Just as the scrap dealers were ready to swoop, she was turned into a clubhouse and began a new era.

Pat Moran, chair of the Liverpool Retired Merchant Seafarers, said he was saddened by the news of Landfall’s demise.

He said: “She was amongst the midst of the fighting and she must be preserved. She’s not a piece of local history, she’s not even a piece of national history. She’s a piece of world history.

“The £750,000 that was spent on compensation for spoilt views caused by the Museum of Liverpool would have been better spent on saving this and other historic vessels.”