End of the road for oldest clipper ship

IT is a vessel brimming with history but one which can no longer bear the weight of the past. After staying afloat against many small deaths, the world's oldest surviving clipper has been been dealt a final, dark fate.

After 143 years, the SV Carrick is to be broken up.

An international group of nautical enthusiasts, politicians and genealogists, who have battled for the beleaguered clipper's restoration, saw the last embers of their generation-long battle extinguished this week. North Ayrshire Council planning committee granted consent to allow the A-listed vessel to be dismantled.

The Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine had intended to restore the Carrick as a passenger ship and tourist attraction but any overhaul, a feasibility study concluded, would have created little more than a £10m reproduction.

Everyone seems to have been in agreement that the ship was in wretched condition; one wonders what might have happened had funds been forthcoming in decades past. There may yet be something to be gained, however:

Now, Mr Kennison and his fellow trustees will pursue one of two methods of deconstruction. Originally known as City of Adelaide, she has lain on an Irvine slipway since sinking in Glasgow 15 years ago. Though no costs have been prepared, it is hoped a measured process can yield archeological information about the vessel's 1864 construction in Sunderland.

"Although we're going to lose the ship, we're not going to smash it into pieces. We intend to preserve as much as we can," Mr Kennison said. "No-one has ever scientifically deconstructed one of these ships before. We stand to learn a great deal". . .

The 176ft vessel survived 28 voyages carrying emigrants from Falmouth to Australia over two decades. Australian researchers estimate more than 60% of the population of the nation's southern states can trace their families' arrival in Australia to the ship.

Full article here.

ADDENDUM: Commentary, pictures, and further links at the ever-interesting Barista.

Posted by David on January 19, 2007 2:32 PM