ONLY days after the sinking of the former Mersey ferry, Royal Iris, provoked anguished cries on Merseyside, we now learn that another historic vessel is seemingly heading for a watery grave, too.

The veteran tank landing craft, The Landfall, could have been a film star. Director Steven Spielberg was said to be on the point of acquiring her, at one time, for use in his World War II blockbuster, Saving Private Ryan.

For whatever reason, she never actually made it onto screen. But nevertheless she still surely doesn’t merit the ignominious fate of sinking into the mud at the bottom of the Birkenhead dock that has been her home for the past ten years.

Once, she was a familiar sight in Liverpool, fulfilling a role as a clubhouse, and then a disco and restaurant, in the Canning Dock.

Later she was acquired by the Warship Preservation Trust that put several vessels on display in Birkenhead docks, until the collection was broken up several years ago.

Then she was just left to her fate. Why is it that Merseyside appears to be so irredeemably poor at maintaining its nautical heritage? We have a National Maritime Museum, after all, which is surrounded by eye-catching and interesting vessels, and Merseyside now has a particular reputation for its role in preserving seafaring history.

Despite that, so many opportunities are missed. Famed Battle of the Atlantic warship HMS Whimbrel is still in Egypt, awaiting possible return to Liverpool; the Royal Iris is still shipping water on the River Thames; and The Landfall is now largely submerged.

Of course, rescue and preservation programmes cost money, and there are many calls on the country’s dwindling resources in these straitened times. But once these vessels have gone, they have gone for good, along with any possible revenue from their role as tourist crowd-pullers.

It is a shame we persist in being so short-sighted.