THE last Clyde-built turbine steamship will return to Scotland next month thanks to Sunday Mail readers and a string of backers.
The TS Queen Mary will be towed from Tilbury Docks in Essex to the River Clyde where she was built and launched more than 80 years ago reports the Sunday Mail.
It will be the first time she has been in Scottish waters since 1985 and will happen ahead of schedule thanks to ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne.
Bosses at the ferry firm, who once owned the vessel, made the final donation which made it possible to bring her home.
Glasgow charity Friends of TS Queen Mary fought a two-year battle to rescue the ship.
They secured more than £300,000 in donations which paid for essential repairs to make her seaworthy again.
The Sunday Mail first highlighted the story in 2013 and told how the ship lay rusting in Tilbury Docks.
The steamer had been left to decay after being bought by businessman Ranjan Chowdhury in 2011.
The Friends of TS Queen Mary bought her at auction last year for £20,000 after the ship was arrested by Forth Ports over non-payment of berthing fees.
The Sunday Mail-backed campaign Return of the Queen was launched to bring her back to the Clyde.
Forth Ports, V Ships, Ferguson Marine and The RHS Charitable Foundation all helped fund the return of the steamer.
The next generation of Clyde ship builders will now help restore her to her original splendour.
