1883–Historic vessel seeks shelter in Jervis Bay.

Clipper City of Adelaide. May 1883.

The City of Adelaide, from Sydney, was compelled by sheer stress of weather to put into Jervis Bay until the weather abated.

“Shortly after leaving Sydney Heads the vessel encountered a heavy gale with a tremendous south-east sea,  and reached Jervis Bay with difficulty on the evening of the 10th May. The passengers presented an address to the Captain M.Intosh,  testifying the courage and skill he displayed in the trying circumstances in which he had been placed.”

Today - City of Adelaide is the world's oldest surviving clipper ship. The City of Adelaide was a small fast Clipper, built in Sunderland England and launched on 7th of May 1864. 244ft long, beam 33ft, draft 19ft.  she had 14 first class cabins and 270 second class cabins.

First Class Cabins.

She was purpously built to transport passengers and cargo between Britain and Australia.  Between 1864 and 1887 the ship made 23 annual return voyages from London and Plymouth to Adelaide, South Australia. City of Adelaide is of composite construction with timber planking on a wrought-iron frame. This method of construction provides the structural strength of an iron ship combined with the insulation of a timber hull. She was amongst the fastest clippers on the London - Adelaide run,  sharing the record of 65 days with the clipper Yatah.  She played an important part in the immigration of Australia. An estimated 250.000 Australians can trace their ancestory to the City of Adelaide. With the arrival of steamships, the City of Adelaide was sold into the north American timber trade, where it worked for six years as a cargo ship. It saw its next 30 years as an isolation hospital near Southampton, before being taken over by the Royal Navy and used as a drill ship, and as Naval Volunteer Reserve Club rooms on the River Clyde in Scotland.

In 1989 it was moved onto a private slip in Irvine, where it remained until rescued by Australian volunteers and brought to Port Adelaide in 2014. She is currently undergoing restoration and her final resting place is still being decided. For more information on the history of the ship and voyage passenger and crew lists please visit http://cityofadelaide.org/wiki/ http://www.cityofadelaide.org.au/ http://storieswelltold.com.au/blog/stories/815/  - beautiful photo’s of the inside of the ship as she stands today.