City of Adelaide is a clipper ship, built in Sunderland, England, and launched on 7 May 1864. It was built by Pile, Hay and Co. to transport passengers and goods between Britain and Australia. Between 1864 and 1887 she made 23 annual return voyages from London and Plymouth to Adelaide, South Australia and played an important part in the immigration of Australia. On the return voyages she carried passengers, wool, and copper from Adelaide and Port Augusta to London. From 1869 to 1885 she was part of Harrold Brothers' "Adelaide Line" of clippers.

After 1887, the ship carried coal around the British coast, and timber across the Atlantic. In 1893, she became a floating hospital in Southampton, and in 1923 was purchased by the Royal Navy. The ship was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick (to avoid confusion with the newly commissioned ), and based in Scotland as a training ship. In 1948, she was decommissioned and donated to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Club, and towed into central Glasgow for use as the club's headquarters and remained on the River Clyde until 1989 when she was damaged by flooding. In order to safeguard the vessel, she was protected as a listed building, but in 1991 she sank at her mooring. Carrick was recovered by the Scottish Maritime Museum the following year, and moved to a private slipway adjacent to the museum's site in Irvine.

Restoration work began, but funding ceased in 1999, and from 2000 the future of the ship was in doubt. After being served with an eviction notice by the owners of the slipway, the Scottish Maritime Museum sought the deconstruction of the ship on more than one occasion, while rescue proposals were developed by groups based in Sunderland and South Australia. At a conference convened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2001, the decision was made to revert the ship's name to City of Adelaide. In 2010, the Scottish Government decided that the ship would be moved to Adelaide, to be preserved as a museum ship, and the duke formally renamed her at a ceremony in 2013. In September 2013, the ship was moved by barge from Scotland to the Netherlands to prepare for transport to Australia. In late November 2013, loaded on the deck of a cargo ship, City of Adelaide departed Europe, and arrived in Port Adelaide on 3 February 2014. On 16 June 2024, the ship was moved ashore from the barge it had been resting on since its arrival.

Significance

City of Adelaide is the world's oldest surviving clipper ship, of only two that survive – the other is Cutty Sark (built 1869; a tea-clipper and now a museum ship and tourist attraction in Greenwich, London). With Cutty Sark and (built 1878; a sloop-of-war in Chatham), City of Adelaide is one of only three surviving ocean-going ships of composite construction to survive and of these, the only passenger ship to have taken emigrants from the British Isles (the other two are Edwin Fox and Star of India). City of Adelaide is the only surviving purpose-built passenger sailing ship.

Adding to her significance as an emigrant ship, City of Adelaide is the last survivor of the timber trade between North America and the United Kingdom. As this trade peaked at the same time as conflicts in Europe, a great mass of refugees sought cheap passage on the timber-trade ships, that would otherwise be returning empty, creating an unprecedented influx of new immigrants in North America.

Having been built in the years prior to Lloyd's Register publishing its rules for composite ships, City of Adelaide is an important example in the development of naval architecture.

The UK's Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships describes the significance of City of Adelaide in these terms:

She highlights the early fast passenger-carrying and general cargo trade to the Antipodes. Her composite construction illustrates technical development in 19th shipbuilding techniques and scientific progress in metallurgy and her self-reefing top sails demonstrate the beginnings of modern labour saving technologies. Her service on the London to Adelaide route between 1864 and 1888 gives her an unrivalled associate status as one of the ships contributing to the growth of the Australian nation.

In recognition of her significance, until departing the United Kingdom in 2013, City of Adelaide was an A-listed structure in Scotland, part of the National Historic Fleet of the United Kingdom, and listed in the Core Collection of the United Kingdom.

Construction

City of Adelaide was designed to carry both passengers and cargo between England and Australia. Cabins could accommodate first-class and second-class passengers, and the hold could be fitted out for carrying steerage-class emigrants when needed.

City of Adelaide is a composite ship with timber planking on a wrought-iron frame. This method of construction provides the structural strength of an iron ship combined with the insulation of a timber hull. Unlike iron ships, where copper would cause corrosion in contact with the iron, the timber bottoms of composite ships could be sheathed with copper to prevent fouling. The iron frames meant that composite ships could carry large amounts of canvas sail. Composite ships were therefore some of the fastest ships afloat.Lubbock, B. (1921) The Colonial Clippers 34 MB PDF

Composite ships were built in the relatively short period from c. 1860 to 1880. City of Adelaide was built in 1864 before Lloyd's Register recognised and endorsed composite ships in 1867. Before this, all composite ships were labelled by Lloyds as being "Experimental". Being a developmental technology in 1864 meant that many of the structural features on City of Adelaide are now regarded as being 'over-engineered', particularly when compared to other later composite ships like (1869). For example, the frame spacing on City of Adelaide is much closer together than seen on other composite ships. This extra strength from 'over-engineering', together with the good fate to have benefited from human habitation and/or husbandry through to the late 1990s, has likely been a major factor why City of Adelaide has survived, even after being grounded on Kirkcaldy Beach in South Australia for a week in 1874 (see below).

Service history

Conception After having gained much experience on the London to Adelaide run with his ship Irene, Captain David Bruce had City of Adelaide built expressly for the South Australia trade. The order for the ship was given to William Pile, Hay and Company of Sunderland and she was launched on 7 May 1864. Captain Bruce took a quarter-share ownership.

City of Adelaide is frequently referred to as being owned by the British shipping firm Devitt and Moore, but they were only the managing agents in London. Partner Joseph Moore snr. was a syndicate member, holding a quarter-share in the ship.

The remaining two quarter-shares were taken up by South Australian interests – Harrold Brothers who were the agents in Adelaide, and Henry Martin, the working proprietor of the Yudnamutana and Blinman copper mines in the Flinders Ranges.

South Australian trade – 1864–87 The ship spent 23 years making annual runs to and from South Australia, playing an important role in the development of the colony. Researchers have estimated that a quarter of a million South Australians can trace their origins to passengers on City of Adelaide.

At least six diaries kept by passengers describing voyages have survived from the 23 return voyages between London and Adelaide.

City of Adelaide was among the fastest clippers on the London–Adelaide run, sharing the record of 65 days with Yatala, which was later broken only by .

On 24 August 1874, the ship was stranded on Kirkcaldy Beach near Grange, south of Semaphore near Adelaide. On board at the time were over 320 people, including one of the diarists, a Scot named James McLauchlan. An outbreak of scarlet fever had occurred during the voyage and seven people died. Two babies were born aboard during the voyage – one was "born dead".

Upon reaching South Australian waters at the end of this voyage, severe gales were encountered resulting in the stranding of City of Adelaide. The storms also caused incidents and losses of other vessels along the South Australian coast. The schooner Mayflower, on her way from Port Broughton to Port Adelaide, lost one of her crew overboard and he drowned: the crewman was on his way to Port Adelaide to meet his wife who was one of the migrants aboard City of Adelaide. Amongst the cargo on this voyage were two Scottish Deerhounds, bred by the Marquis of Lorne, John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, and being imported by Sir Thomas Elder. A day after the stranding the passengers were removed by steam tugs. City of Adelaide was refloated on 4 September after much of the cargo had been discharged and much of the rigging temporarily removed. The ship was virtually undamaged.

By the 1880s, City of Adelaide was also calling at Port Augusta on return voyages. At Port Augusta, copper from Henry Martin's Blinman and Yudnamutana copper mines in the Flinders Ranges and wool from outback sheep stations was loaded before racing to the wool sales in London. During this time, in 1881, the ship was rerigged as a barque.

Route of 1874 voyage This map traces the route of the 1874 voyage from the latitudes and longitudes provided in the diary of James McLauchlan.

Notable passengers

Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld GCMG – sixth Premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements. Cyril Maude – English stage and film actor. Alfred Sandover MBE – donor of the Sandover Medal. Frederick Bullock – mayor of Adelaide from 1891 to 1892. His diary as a 15-year-old passenger survives.

Coal trade – 1887–88 In 1887, City of Adelaide was sold to Dover coal merchant, Charles Havelock Mowll, for use in the collier trade carrying coal from the Tyne to Dover.

Timber trade – 1888–93

In 1888, City of Adelaide was sold to Belfast-based timber merchants Daniel and Thomas Stewart Dixon, and was used to carry timber in the North Atlantic trade.

By the start of the 18th century, Britain had exhausted its supplies of the great oaks that had built the Royal Navy. The lack of large trees was problematic as they were a necessity for masts for both war and merchant shipping. A thriving timber import business developed between Britain and the Baltic region but was unpopular for economic and strategic reasons.Tim Ball, "Timber!", Beaver, April 987, Vol. 67#2 pp. 45–56 The Napoleonic Wars and a Continental blockade had a large impact on the Baltic trade and so Britain looked to the North American colonies that were still loyal.

The North Atlantic timber trade became a massive business and timber was British North America's most important commodity. In one summer, 1,200 ships were loaded with timber at Quebec City alone.

As timber is a very bulky cargo, it required many ships to carry it from North America to Britain, but there was little demand for carrying goods on the return voyages. However, there was a market for carrying migrants, so many of the timber ships turned to the migrant trade to fill their unused capacity. Since timber exports tended to peak at the same time as conflicts in Europe, a great mass of refugees sought cheap passage across the Atlantic. This created an unprecedented influx of new immigrants in North America.

The timber trade not only brought immigrants to British North America but also played a very important role in keeping them there. While many of those disembarking from the timber-trade ships headed south to the United States, many stayed in British North America. At the peak of the trade in the 1840s, 15,000 Irish loggers were employed in the Gatineau region alone at a time when the population of Montreal was only 10,000.