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The Future of the S.V. Carrick
Jim Carrick - former Director of the National Maritime Museum
The S.V. Carrick, or more correctly the City of Adelaide, still sits on a slipway in Irvine, Ayrshire, slowly decaying. Funding for the restoration of this vessel ran out in 1999 and its owners, the Scottish Maritime Museum, have been blighted by a continuing withdrawal of public funds for the Museum and its projects. This financial dilemma forced the Trustees of the Museum to apply, in May 2000, to North Ayrshire Council for listed building consent to demolish the vessel. Such is the historical importance of the ship that it has the status of an A listed structure. The storm of objections to the application was unprecedented and took local planning officials completely by surprise. Never before had the Council received objections from outside of the UK but they arrived from individuals, universities and heritage bodies in Europe, America and Australia, culminating in an objection from the Federal Government of Australia through its Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Why is the vessel considered so important, in an international context, to stir so many to object to a proposal to destroy her? She is the only wooden sailing passenger ship from the 19th Century to survive in Great Britain, she is the oldest of only three composite vessels to survive worldwide and she is the earliest surviving clipper ship. The National Historic Ships Committee included the City of Adelaide in the Core Collection list of 54 nationally significant vessels for the U.K. The NHSC have recently indicated the significance of City of Adelaide, Within this UK category of historic ships she has been placed in the top ten vessels - she therefore shares her status with vessels like HMS Victory, SS Great Britain and the Cutty Sark. She is the most important historic vessel in Scotland.
The ship was launched in 1864 from the yard of W. Pile, Hay & Co., of Sunderland. The City of Adelaide was designed to carry cargo and passengers, and was fitted with the highest quality of first class accommodation. Second class passengers were carried and when necessary, basic emigrant accommodation was provided. City of Adelaide was one of the sailing vessels which gave an annual service to the ports of South Australia over the second half of the nineteenth century and was thus of fundamental importance to the development of the colony. Australian researchers have estimated that more than 60% of the current population of the State of South Australia can trace their families arrival in Australia to the City of Adelaide.
Sold in 1887 City of Adelaide, like many vessels of a similar type, was used for bulk cargo transporting, firstly, as a collier working between the Tyne and Dover, and secondly, on the North Atlantic timber trade. In 1893 the ship's days under sail ended when she was bought by Southampton Corporation, but this was the beginning of a long period, lasting almost 100 years, during which the City of Adelaide was converted for several widely differing purposes. Thirty years as a floating isolation hospital in Southampton; twenty three years, renamed HMS Carrick, with the Admiralty, as an RNVR drill ship and wartime training ship at Greenock on the Clyde; and finally forty four years as the Carrick, the floating premises of the RNVR (Scotland) Club, moored in Glasgow. Her most recent change of location followed the failure of an initial attempt to preserve the vessel by a Glasgow based Trust, and her sinking in Princes Dock, Govan. The ship, by 1991 in dire straits and at risk of total loss, was, through a very large-scale operation, salvaged and removed to Irvine by the Scottish Maritime Museum for preservation and future restoration. In 1992 a fully funded 1 million first phase of work was commenced.
The Scottish Maritime Museums application to demolish City of Adelaide was considered by North Ayrshire Councils Planning Committee on 26th February 2001. The Committee quite rightly refused the application as 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).
The many objectors to the demolition application together with world wide press coverage did not generate significant funding to support her continued preservation. By the summer of 2001 the Trustees of the Scottish Maritime Museum were expressing real concern that continued rental costs for the restoration slipway and lack of funds to restore the vessels hull to allow removal from the slipway would result in the Museum going into liquidation. At this point the President of the Maritime Trust, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, took the initiative and called a Conference of all interested parties.
The Conference took place in Glasgow in September 2001 and included representatives of the National Historic Ships Committee, The Maritime Trust, Australian High Commission, State of South Australia, City of Sunderland, Historic Scotland, Scottish Executive and DCMS. The Sunderland Maritime Trust and Save the City of Adelaide 1864 Group, Adelaide, Australia, both presented the Conference with proposals for the vessel to be restored and displayed in their cities. The Conference agreed that both Sunderland and Adelaide should look to securing funding support for their proposals enabling a final transfer to either Sunderland or Adelaide as quickly as possible.
Over one year on and the City of Adelaide 1864 Group still awaits confirmation of charitable status within the Australian tax system allowing it to commence fund raising. The Sunderland Maritime Trust proposals are the subject of a study commissioned by the City of Sunderland, a report yet to be published. The Scottish Maritime Museum is, following a further withdrawal of support funding from the Scottish Executive in 2002, ever closer to the point where it can no longer continue.
Many objectors to the demolition application had difficulty in comprehending the lack of financial support for the City of Adelaide and the Scottish Maritime Museum, which holds the major collections of Scotlands maritime history, a history for which Scotland is renowned. At best the City of Adelaide will only be saved by a move to England or Australia, there are no rules or regulations to prevent or delay such a move, as in the case of works of art. Regrettably only the speedy arrival of funding to allow the removal of the City of Adelaide from Scotland will now save the Scottish Maritime Museum and their collections of national and international importance. It is also the only chance for the City of Adelaide.
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