City of Adelaide (1864)
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City of Adelaide, later known as HMS Carrick, is the oldest surviving clipper ship in the world, and one of only a few to exist. Although listed by the National Historic Ships Committee as part of the "Core Collection" of ships of the United Kingdom, as of 2006 she is a decrepit hulk in the possession of the Scottish Maritime Museum, and was due to be scrapped 1, but may be saved and brought to Falmouth, Cornwall as a tourist attraction.
She was built by William Pile, Hay, and Company of Sunderland, and launched in 1864. A composite hull vessel like the Cutty Sark built several years later, City of Adelaide was designed to carry both passengers and cargo between Great Britain and Australia. She included first-class and second-class passenger quarters, and the hold could be filled with emigrants if desired.
The ship spent many years making annual runs to and from South Australia, playing an important role in the development of the colony; researchers have estimated that 60% of South Australians can trace their origins to passengers on City of Adelaide. In 1887 the aged ship was sold for use in bulk cargo transport, first carrying coal from Tyne to Dover, and then carrying timber in the North Atlantic.
Her sailing days ended in 1893, when she was bought to serve as a floating hospital in Southampton. From 1923, she brought into the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick and used as a Royal Naval Reserve drill ship at Greenock. Moved to Glasgow in 1956, she was used by the local RNVR club.
By 1990, the hull had seriously deteriorated, and Carrick actually sank at her mooring. The Scottish Maritime Museum salvaged the remains and moved them to Irvine, North Ayrshire with the expectation to preserve them and eventually restore the vessel.
After using up its initial grant, the museum had no further funding and by 2001 had applied to the local council to demolish the ship so to make the maintenance expenses available for other projects. This plan was rejected, and at a conference later that year various organizations offered to support restoration, but no funds materialized until 2003 when businessman Mike Edwards donated funds for preservation and a feasibility study for the ship's restoration. It was hoped that the vessel could be returned home for permanent exhibition in Sunderland, but in February 2006 it was announced that as the hull was in worse condition than anticipated, an application would be put forward for recorded deconstruction.
