The City of Adelaide – The World’s Oldest Surviving Clipper Ship!

We were not sure what to expect from visiting the Clipper Ship ‘City of Adelaide’ and came away from our visit marvelling, not only at the clippers colourful history but at the structure of the ship and the extraordinary construction time.

The world’s oldest composite clipper ship!

The ‘City of Adelaide’ is built in what is known as a composite construction; meaning she has an iron frame and timber planks. She is nearly 177 feet long, over 33 feet wide at her widest and weighed 791 tonnes when completed. The planks used to build her look to us to be about four inches thick. Building the ‘City of Adelaide’ was a mammoth project which was completed in just nine months back in the day when each hole was hand drilled!

Our tour of the ‘City of Adelaide’ started where the rudder usually sits, at the stern of the ship. After a couple of minutes of listening to our guide, Norman, explain the structure of the ship and its incredible fast construction I was hooked. I just wanted to know more. The tour went on to include walking the length of the vessel on the outside to the bow where we go to see her lovely shape. All the while Norman was telling us about her structure and history.

Then it was onboard for a look inside; this is when we really began to hear about the history of the ‘City of Adelaide’ as a working ship. She has a long history as a passenger/cargo ship, a hospital ship, a Navy training ship and even a floating clubhouse for the Royal Navy Reserve Club before she was found wallowing on a muddy slip in Scotland.

Now I am not going to tell you everything I learned about this, the oldest surviving clipper ship in the world, because then you would not get the same satisfaction that we got from our visit! Suffice to say, the history of the ‘City of Adelaide’ is interesting, and the way in which she came to be back in Port Adelaide, genuinely inspiring.

Commenced her maiden voyage to South Australia on the 6th of August 1864!

When launched the ‘City of Adelaide’ did the passenger run from London to Adelaide. On her return journey, she would take back a cargo of wool, wheat and copper. She played an important role in the history of South Australia bringing with her many families whose names are renown in South Australia and beyond. In fact, about 250,000 Australian’s can trace their ancestral history back to the passengers and/or crew of the ‘City of Adelaide’.

23 return voyages between the United Kingdom and South Australia…

There are so many interesting things to learn from this clipper, the eldest of only two ships of this type remaining worldwide. The City of Adelaide ran aground at Kirkaldy Beach, which is now Henley and Grange Beaches. She lost her rudder south of Kangaroo Island, and the crew had to battle for seven days with a jury-rigged rudder, trimming sails and dragging large chains over the side to maneuver back up the Gulf of St Vincent.  She had a new rudder constructed in Port Adelaide before she could return to London. She also sunk in 1991… but that is only part of her colourful history… pop on down for a tour to learn more!

Rescued from her muddy grave!

In 1992, the Scottish Maritime Museum, with funding from various enterprises, salvaged her from her 1991 watery grave. In Sept 1993 she was slipped at Irving with the intention of preservation and restoration. However, the conservation work came to a grinding halt in 1999 when all funding for the renovation had dried up, and the ship listed for deconstruction in May of 2000. There was a lot of opposition to the idea of deconstruction, therefore in February 2001 the application for deconstructing was refused. Thus began a very long campaign to save the ‘City of Adelaide’ by the “Save the City of Adelaide” Action Group (the group later became known as Clipper Ship ‘City of Adelaide’ Ltd). Lifting and shipping the ‘City of Adelaide’ to Port Adelaide was no small feat! It included the construction of a 100-ton steel cradle in South Australia which was then shipped to Scotland and assembled on site.

The City of Adelaide travelled on the HUGE ship MV Palanpur. I say HUGE, because when you see the size of the ‘City of Adelaide’ and then how small she looks in the photos when she is on the MV Palanpur’s deck you will understand the size of the ship on which she was loaded.

It took 14 years to get the ‘City of Adelaide’ to Port Adelaide…

On the 3rd of February 2014, she arrived in Port Adelaide, and the preservation work started immediately. On the 17th of May 2014, she celebrated her 150th birthday, and today, tours are available with volunteers. Clipper Ship ‘City of Adelaide’ Ltd (SCCOAL) is a volunteer run, not for profit organisation. SCCOAL’s goal is to preserve the historic 1864 ‘City of Adelaide’, and make it the centrepiece in Port Adelaide’s inner harbour.

The most important historic ship in Australia!

The ‘City of Adelaide’ is a work in progress and this is currently one of the interesting aspects of this visit. I believe anyone interested in shipping, maritime history, the history of South Australia, museums, and history, in general, will enjoy this tour. The tour is extremely interesting, and I would be surprised if everyone did not finish the tour marvelling at ‘City of Adelaide’, and it’s long history. If you haven’t already had a tour of the ‘City of Adelaide’ do yourself a favour and get on down there. The tours are generally 1 hour long. Do allow yourself a little extra time to chat with the volunteers, they are full of excellent information!

P.S. There are a couple of things to entertain children such as being able to lay in a hammock for a photo or looking through the porthole to see who the captain is.

Looking for other interesting and fun things to do in Port Adelaide check out The South Australian Aviation Museum,  The South Australian Maritime Museum, The National Railway Museum. or do the self-guided Heritage Walk of Port Adelaide.