City of Adelaide (1864)

34°50′30″S 138°30′31″E / 34.841633°S 138.508736°E / -34.841633; 138.508736

City of Adelaide. Hand-coloured lithograph by Thomas Dutton, 1864.
History
United Kingdom
Name	City of Adelaide (1864–1922) HMS Carrick (1922–1948) Carrick (1948–2001) City of Adelaide (2001–present)
Owner	Bruce, Moore, Harrold Bros. & Martin, London (1864–1887) Charles H Mowll, Dover (1887–1888) Thomas S Dixon & Son, Belfast (1888–1893) Southampton Corp. (1893–1922) Royal Navy (1922–1948) RNVR Club, Glasgow (1948–1989) Clyde Ship Trust (1990–1992) Scottish Maritime Museum (1992–2013) Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd, Adelaide, S Australia (2013–present)
Operator	Devitt and Moore (1864–1887)
Port of registry	London (1864–1888) Belfast (1888–1893)  Royal Navy (1922–1948)
Route	London — Plymouth — Adelaide — Port Augusta — London (typical 1864–1887)
Builder	Pile, Hay & Co
Launched	7 May 1864; 160 years ago (7 May 1864)
Commissioned	1923
Decommissioned	1948
Maiden voyage	6 August 1864
Out of service	1893–1922; since 1948
Stricken	Removed from register 7 February 1895
Homeport	London (1864–1888) Belfast (1888–1893) Southampton (1893–1895) Southampton (1895–1922) Glasgow (1948–1992) Irvine (1992–2013) Port Adelaide (2014–present)
Identification	UK official number 50036 code letters WCLQ
Nickname(s)	The City
Status	Awaiting restoration at Port Adelaide, South Australia
Badge	on stern
General characteristics
Type	Composite clipper Passenger ship (1864–1887) Collier (1887–1888) Cargo ship (1888–1893) Hospital ship (1893–1922) Training ship (1922–1948) RNVR Clubrooms (1948–1991) Museum ship (1991–present)
Tonnage	791 NRT[1]
Length	244 ft 1 in (74.40 m) 176.8 ft (53.89 m)[1]
Beam	33.3 ft (10.15 m)[1]
Depth	18.8 ft (5.73 m)[1]
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship (1864–1881) Barque (1881–1893) Derigged since 1893

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^[2] 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 HMAS Adelaide), 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.