The 'City of Adelaide' first launched in 1864 and built by W. Pile, Hay & Co., of
Sunderland, is facing imminent destruction simply because not enough funds have been made available to keep her and restore her. It is quoted that this ship is of almost equal importance to British maritime heritage as the 'Cutty Sark', yet nobody has yet found her important enough to find the money to stop her being lost forever.
The picture on this page is from the 'Traditional Boats & Tall Ships' website (see link at in menu bar) where you can read about the City of Adelaide's history.
Latest Developments
Application To Demolish 'City of Adelaide' Refused
Extract From Report by North Ayrshire Council
Read the full report - Download Report - nac_planning.rtf 48k
Planning and Regulatory Sub-Committee 26 February 2001
Planning Area lrvine/Kilwinning
RECOMMENDATION FOR PLANNING APPLICATION REF NO 001003921LBC
The Principal Development Control Officer recommends:
Refuse Listed Building Consent on the following ground:-
1. That the case for demolition has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt in that the ship, which, in terms of construction technology and historic interest is of international significance, is not in a dangerous condition and it has not been demonstrated that every effort has been exerted by all concerned to find practical ways of keeping the ship as is required by Section 2.10 of the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas (1998).
Read the full report - Download Report - nac_planning.rtf 48k
Application for the destruction of the City of Adelaide
The application for the destruction of the City of Adelaide was filed
with the Planning Committee of North Ayrshire Council.
The application - now refused - number 00/00392/LBC for the "Demolition of clipper
ship "Carrick" - "City of Adelaide" at Ayrshire Metal Products Slipway,
Church St, Irvine, Ayrshire, was registered on the 29th May
2000.
Objections Recieved
There were some 99 letters received and 19 e-mails for which no address can be attributed (see attached list for details). All but 1 letter voiced support for the retention of the vessel. Most of the letters were from individuals in the UK and Australia (13). A petition with 22 signatures came from Turramurra NSW, many
with forebearers who came to Australia by the ship.
There were representations from 9 organisations who are involved in the history and preservation of ships namely:-
- The Australian National University - Dr T Griffiths, Senior Fellow
- Mariners International Club, London - Denis Stonham Editor Journal
- Moratec (Maritime History and Technology) - Olof Pipping - Historian
- Sidney Heritage Fleet (saved the James Craig)
- The Maritime Trust (Greenwich, London)
- Society for Nautical Research, Hampshire (Patron HRH Prince Philip)
- Western Australian Maritime Museum Board (Prof. Franklin Broeze)
- World Ship Trust, London
- Scottish Maritime Heritage Association, Irvine
All these organisations stressed the importance that the City of Adelaide has played in history from both the constructional and social history point of view.
Read the full report - Download Report - nac_planning.rtf 48k
Funds Needed
The Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine require an immediate £100,000 to retain the vessel over the next year. This will at least cover the cost of the slipway over the period. An extra £50,000 will cover the cost of holding work over a year, such as sealing the decks and preparation work for restoration. They would require £900,000 to restore the hull and relaunch her. This sum will also cover the slipway costs during the hull restoration. Then she can be placed on a mooring that will not incur any further costs whilst she awaits gradual full restoration. The overal cost from the present time to bring her up to full restoration is an estimated £5 Million.
The Scottish Maritime Museum now has until October or November 2000 to find the first £100,000 to prevent her destruction. Please Help Now.
