Falls of Clyde is the last four-masted full-rigged iron ship and the only surviving sailing oil tanker. The ship was launched in 1878 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, for the Fall Line. She became a museum ship in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1971, but was never properly maintained. In 2008, the Bishop Museum, which had control of the ship, was preparing to tow her out sea and scuttle her. In September 2008, the Friends of Falls of Clyde, a non-profit group of volunteers, saved the ship by acquiring it, and has been attempting to raise money to drydock, repair and begin the restoration of the long-neglected historic ship.
It has not been easy going. The organization has secured $350,000 from the Robert J. Pfeiffer Foundation, and was hoping to receive another half million dollars from the Federal preservation program, “Save America’s Treasures.” Unfortunately, Congress in its wisdom, or lack thereof, cut funding for the program. The volunteers of the Friends of Falls of Clyde are determined to carry one. To learn more about the ship click here. To donate to help save the Falls of Clyde, click here.