A Brief History
The ship was launched in 1864 from the yard of W. Pile, Hay & Co., of Sunderland. The owners were based in Britain but included former emigrants to South Australia who had returned and who still had business interests there. The "City of Adelaide" was designed to carry both cargo and passengers, and was fitted with the highest quality of first class accommodation for a sailing ship. Second class passengers were also carried and, when necessary, basic emigrant accommodation was provided. "City of Adelaide" was one of the sailing vessels which gave a regular annual service to the ports of South Australia over the second half of the nineteenth century and as such were of fundamental importance to the development of the colony.
"City of Adelaide" was sold in 1887 and 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, in fact, 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 at Southampton; twenty three years, renamed HMS "Carrick", with the Admiralty, as an RNVR drill ship and wartime DEMS training ship at Greenock on the Clyde; and finally forty four years as the "Carrick", the floating premises of the RNVR (Scotland) Club, moored on the Clyde at Glasgow.
The failure of an initial attempt to preserve the vessel by a newly established body, the Clyde Ship Trust, led to the involvement of the Scottish Maritime Museum. The ship, by 1991 in dire straits and at risk of total loss, was, through a very large scale operation, salvaged and removed in 1992 to Irvine, the headquarters of the Scottish Maritime Museum, for preservation and future restoration.
The vessel is the only vessel in Scotland to merit being listed by Historic Scotland as an "A" listed building. The vessel is one of 48 vessels identified by the National Historic Ships Committee as part of the UK Core Collection of vessels of major historical significance. She is the only sailing passenger ship from the 19th century on that list. She is the only vessel that has been both Royal Navy and Merchant. She is one of only six vessels in Scotland on the core collection list.