History |
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RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE
Passenger Clipper Ship CITY OF ADELAIDE 1864 |
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The City of Adelaide is a remarkable and exceptionally historic passenger clipper ship. This unique passenger cargo sailing ship survives today as the last of the passenger clipper ships. These in many respects were the sailing predecessors of the ocean liner. Therefore we make no apologies for including this ship in the Ocean Liner Virtual Museum. For while the S.S. Great Britain is famous for being the world's first true ocean liner and the forerunner of all modern ships. It is arguable that the City of Adelaide is the sailing predecessor of the S.S. Great Britain and therefore all ocean liners. She was built by William Pile, Hay & Co. in Sunderland and was launched on the 7th May 1864. The City Of Adelaide is the oldest survivor of only three composite ships in the world. She was William Pile's first composite ship and the only one left out of hundreds of sailing ships built on the Wear in the nineteenth century. She is five years older, and a little smaller than the world famous Cutty Sark, one of the other two composite survivors. Although the world's first iron ship was built in 1819 there was a brief period around 1860 to 1880 when hybrids were built with iron frames and wooden planking. These composite construction ships were fast, light and had good cargo-carrying abilities. As a result they represented the peak of innovation in shipbuilding at that time. The City Of Adelaide is 178 feet long and 33 feet in width. Her overall length from the end of the spanker boom to the stern and the end of the jib boom at the bow was about 244 feet and the height of the top of the mainmast above the waterline was about 144 feet. Her displacement was 791 tons and she could carry 1500 tons of cargo. Her historical importance lies partly in the fact that she was a passenger ship with 14 first-class cabins and able to carry about 270 second class passengers. Between 1864 and 1887, the City of Adelaide made 46 voyages between England and South Australia – 23 outward and return - bringing hundreds of families from England, Scotland, Ireland and other European countries. She was built specifically for trade with the relatively new Colony of South Australia and was operated by the company of Devitt and Moore. This company started as shipbrokers and later became ship owners and prime movers in the concept of school ships and sail training. They owned or operated very many ships connecting Britain and Australia for more than half a century. Many of them were built in Sunderland by William Pile. One of the original shareholders in City Of Adelaide, and her first commander, was David Bruce (pictured right), a Scot who had previously commanded the barque Irene for eleven years. Captain Bruce and City Of Adelaide made annual voyages from London to Adelaide and two of his sons subsequently commanded the ship in turn. The ship voyaged annually from London to Adelaide and back to London, for 23 years from 1864. She held the record journey time of 65 days from London to Adelaide. She returned from Adelaide with passengers and a high-value cargo of wool, sometimes via Cape Horn. The advent of steamships in the late 1800s led to the demise of sail. As a result, the clipper ships represented the pinnacle of sailing ship design. By 1887 however, she was becoming un-economical to run and she was sold, and then sold again. For a brief period she was used for coal transportation and later transatlantic timber carrying. Static Roles (1893 - 1990): Her sailing days ended in 1893 and she was purchased by Southampton Corporation for use as a sanatorium and floating isolation hospital, following a cholera outbreak the previous year. She remained in Southampton until 1923 when she was sold to the Admiralty, towed to Irvine and converted and re-named HMS Carrick, to be used as the Drill Ship for the Clyde Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), being moored in Greenock. The change of name was necessary because the Royal Australian Navy already had a ship named 'Adelaide'. The opening ceremony as Drill Ship was attended by the Duke of Montrose, who had served in Devitt and Moore's training ship 'Hesperus' as a junior officer. During the Second World War she served as the administrative centre for the training of gunners for Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS). Following the war she was scheduled for breaking up, but the intervention of senior figures prevented this, and she was saved to be transferred to the RNVR for use as a Clubhouse. After some modification, and an opening ceremony carried out by Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, she served this purpose until 1990, being moored on the Clyde in central Glasgow. In 1978 a very low tide caused her to be caught against the quay alongside which she was lying, resulting in her becoming trapped and heeled to 35 degrees, with consequent flooding of the interior. In 1989 the ship was once again flooded and partly sunk, and the RNVR Club was unable to finance salvage, so the vessel was declared a Total Loss. At this time Glasgow City Council applied for Listed Building status to facilitate preservation of the ship, and this inspired move resulted in her being listed as Category A (i.e. of the most exceptional historical importance). Preservation (1990 - Present): She was purchased in 1990 by a maritime trust, and was towed to Prince's Dock where she sank in unexplained circumstances during the night preceding a planning inquiry appeal over a proposed development of the surrounding area. At this stage she was in grave danger of destruction, to the extent that even the Director of Planning of Glasgow City Council asked for her to be de-listed. However, her legal protection saved her, and she was subsequently acquired by the Scottish Maritime Museum (SMM), who organized the complex task of raising her, and towing her to Irvine, the site of the Museum, also the location of her previous conversion in 1923. She has been back in Irvine since May 1992. The original intention was to restore her to her former glory as a passenger clipper ship and thus she would become an iconic tourist attraction. However due to lack of funding and resources this never was accomplished. She lingered on in deteriorating condition on her slipway at the Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine. In May 2007 permission was given to sensitively deconstruct the City of Adelaide so that parts of her can be preserved in museums. Sadly despite much protest this is likely to commence in 2008. The Battle to Save the City of Adelaide (2000 - Present): The City of Adelaide is the older sister of the Cutty Sark. These two ships are the last two 19th century composite clipper ships left anywhere in the world. While the Cutty Sark is the last tea clipper in the world, the City of Adelaide is the last passenger clipper ship. As such she is the forerunner of the SS Great Britain and the ocean liners. As a result the City of Adelaide is a maritime icon of international historical significance. If restored for present and future generations, she has the potential to contribute hugely to culture, tourism and the local economy. While the SS Great Britain being the first ocean liner tells the story of the early ocean liners, the City of Adelaide uniquely can tell the story of their sailing predecessors - the passenger clipper ships. She is a forgotten icon and must be safeguarded, her condition stabilised and then eventually restored to her former glory. If she is scrapped now this option will be ruled out forever. To lose this unique, priceless and irreplaceable historic ship would be a national tragedy, scandalous, unforgivable and a huge loss to Britain's cultural heritage. Since 2000 several campaigns have been underway to try to save her. One campaign is led by Sunderland Maritime Heritage and they want to save her and restore her to her original condition as an iconic tourist attraction in Sunderland, England, UK. The other group is the Save the City of Adelaide Group in Adelaide, Australia that want to save her and transport her to Adelaide for restoration as a tourist attraction for Australia in light of her important role in bringing emigrants to South Australia. Why is the ship so important? The City of Adelaide is one of only two surviving sailing ships to carry emigrants from the British Isles to any destination woldwide. The other is the Edwin Fox. She is the only surviving sailing ship that gave regular service between Europe and Australia. She is the only survivor of the timber trade from North America to UK. The Cutty Sark and the City of Adelaide are the world’s only two surviving composite clipper ships. The City of Adelaide, built in 1864, is the world’s oldest clipper ship being five years older than the Cutty Sark. In 2001 there was conference held in Glasgow to discuss the plight of the City of Adelaide and put forward ideas for saving her. The event was hosted by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. The conference was chaired by Sir Julian Oswald, and a large number of stakeholders attended the conference including representatives from interests in Australia. The outcome was clear:
Sunderland Maritime Heritage campaign: The aims of the trust are to bring the City of Adelaide back to the river Wear where she was built. Once this is achieved it is intended that she be restored and exhibited as part of a maritime museum. The museum is intended to show the history of ship building on the Wear, and will hopefully house artefacts and pictures from other ships, and shipbuilding yards which were once the mainstay of the area. The demise of the river as one the major shipbuilding areas of the world has seen the loss of many skills allied to shipbuilding, within the local area. It is intended that the restoration work will re-kindle some of these skills, and allied with a programme of training, will allow these skills to be passed on to some of the younger people in the area.It is also intended that the ship, and associated museum, be used as an educational aid, which will enable future generations to see and experience, the sights, sounds, and sense of history, within which the forebears lived and worked. Website: www.sunderlandmaritimeheritage.org.uk Save the City of Adelaide Group campaign: Their Vision is to …
Our Mission is to save the historic clipper ship City of Adelaide and preserve the ship for future generations, by …
Website: www.cityofadelaide.org.au The Author's Efforts: Meanwhile the author (Alex Naughton) has also been doing is best in a small way to raise the profile of the City of Adelaide and to put the case for the preservation of the ship as a whole intact rather than by managed deconstruction which will only result in the preservation of parts of the ship. I have corresponded with the Scottish Maritime Museum and the Scottish Government highlighting the historical signifcance of the ship and lobbying for the decision on the recorded deconstruction of the ship to be reconsidered. This became especially important in light of the fire on the Cutty Sark (the only other surviving clipper ship) in London in May 2007. At that time it seemed likely that we may lose the world's last two surviving clipper ships at the same time. The author received the following statement from the Scottish Maritime Museum on the 23rd May 2007:
The author has also had correspondence with the Scottish First Minister (head of the devolved Scottish Government) and his Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture on the issue of the plight of the City of Adelaide. On the 13th June 2007 the author received the following response from the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture who was responding on behalf of Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and the devolved Scottish Government.
I then replied with some follow on queries. I then received a response from Historic Scotland on the 26th June 2007 who had been requested by the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture to give a further response.
I then submitted an e-petition to the 10 Downing Street website to gauge public support and raise this issue to the attention of the British Prime Minister and the UK Government. The wording of the e-petition was as follows: "We the undersigned
petition the Prime Minister to do everything possible to prevent the
scrapping of the City of Adelaide clipper ship in Scotland by the
Scottish Maritime Museum. This ship is arguably more important than
Cutty Sark and must be saved. In light of the very tragic fire on the
21st May 2007 which damaged the Cutty Sark clipper ship in London. We
want to highlight the plight of the City of Adelaide passenger clipper
ship whose future is threatened in Scotland as her owners (the Scottish
Maritime Museum) want to dismantle and scrap her. We urge the
Government to do everything possible to force them to urgently
reconsider this decision. She must be safeguarded for the future, while
they may not be able to restore her now, they or others may be able to
do so in the future.
The City of Adelaide is the older sister of the Cutty Sark. These two ships are the last two 19th century composite clipper ships left anywhere in the world. While the Cutty Sark is the last tea clipper in the world, the City of Adelaide is the last passenger clipper ship. As such she is the forerunner of the S.S. Great Britain and the ocean liners. As a result the City of Adelaide is a maritime icon of international historical significance. She has the potential to contribute hugely to culture, tourism and the local economy. While the SS Great Britain being the first ocean liner tells the story of the early ocean liners, the City of Adelaide uniquely can tell the story of their sailing predecessors - the passenger clipper ships. She is a forgotten icon and must be safeguarded, her condition stablised and then eventually restored to her former glory. If she is scrapped now this option will be ruled out forever. To lose this unique, priceless and irreplaceable historic ship would be a national tragedy, scandalous, unforgivable and a huge loss to Britain's cultural heritage. Please save the world's last passenger clipper ship - the City of Adelaide." Wording of the author's e-petition to the British Prime Minister, September 2007 I then in October 2007 got the following response from the British Government. "The matters raised
in this petition are the responsibility of the Devolved Administration
in Scotland. You may find the following websites useful
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk and www.scotland.gov.uk."
The matter obviously was referred to the Scottish First Minister by the British Prime Minister for I then received the following reply on the 2nd October 2007 from Historic Scotland again responding on behalf of the Scottish First Minister.
So Britain and Australia are doing their very best to lobby for the preservation in full of this historic clipper ship. Yet the most likely fate seems to be managed deconstruction at this point. This will be a sad blow for maritime heritage internationally and will inevitably mean the loss of this vessel as only parts of the ship will be conserved and saved for posterity. Let's hope that the City of Adelaide can be saved. |
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(c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2007 A Edward Elliott