Clipper Ship Cutty Sark 150th Anniversary — A Year-Long Celebration

In February 1869, one hundred and fifty years ago, construction of the composite clipper ship Cutty Sark began on the banks of the River Clyde for the Jock Willis Shipping Line. The clipper ship sailed on its first voyage a … Continue reading

Composite Clipper City of Adelaide Soon on her Way to Australia, or Not

The two headlines in the BBC are from the same day and posted only an hour apart. The first reads “World’s oldest clipper ship transported to Australia.” The second – “City of Adelaide clipper ship export ban sought.”   Both … Continue reading

Composite Clipper Ship City of Adelaide’s Rudder Arrives in Australia

The rudder for the composite clipper ship, City of Adelaide, arrived in Australia the week before Christmas   Typically, when a ship comes into port, the rudder arrives last. Very little has been typical, however, about the struggle to save the oldest composite clipper ship, the City … Continue reading

Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ready to Begin her Long Voyage Home to Australia

Last January we posted that the composite clipper ship City of Adelaide would begin her voyage by barge and then ship  to her namesake city in Australia by March, “if all goes well.”   As is not unusual is this sort of project, … Continue reading

Clipper City of Adelaide at Risk as Aussie Government Backs Out On Funding

The future of the oldest, just barely surviving, composite clipper ship in the world, the City of Adelaide, is again in question. Shortly before it was due to be scrapped in Scotland last August, an agreement was reached to send … Continue reading

Work Begins on Transporting the Clipper Ship City of Adelaide

The clipper ship City of Adelaide (later HMS Carrick), the oldest surviving composite clipper ship in the world, was at serious risk of being broken up until a deal was  struck last August to move the ship from the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Scotland, back to its namesake … Continue reading

Breaking up the City of Adelaide Could Bankrupt Scottish Museum

The Scottish Maritime Museum is in dire financial straits.  The City of Adelaide, the oldest (just barely) surviving composite clipper ship in the world,  has been rotting on a slipway at Irvine, near Glasgow, for almost a decade because the museum lacked the funds to … Continue reading