De Wadden

De Wadden was launched on September 18th 1917, fitted with an inboard diesel engine to supplement her compliment of sail, and had entered service by March 1918, being advertised as sailing from Rotterdam to Bergen. She and De Lauwers survived the war, while De Dollart had been sunk by German Submarine U-82. She continued to sail with the Netherlands Steamship Company until the war's shipping boom had calmed, at which point she was no longer a useful asset, leading to her sale in the early 1920s to Richard Hall of Arklow.[1]

De Wadden was put into service by her new owner as an Irish Sea Trading Vessel, sailing out of the River Mersey to various Irish ports carrying cargoes such as grain, pit-props, china clay, mineral ores, and coal,[3] eventually becoming the last schooner to trade in the British Isles.[4] Her original 125 horsepower SteyWal engine was replaced with an 80hp Bolinder engine purchased from the Admiralty after a major failure, and she was also fitted with a 50 hp Kelvin engine to give additional power.[3]

During the Second World War, she was one of few vessels providing a vital lifeline of supplies to the Irish Republic, and managed to survive the war, and in January 1942 her engines were replaced again by a six cylinder 150 hp Crossley DR diesel,[3] which was overhauled at least once between 1950 and 1951.[5]

She continued to trade out of Merseyside until 1961, where she was finally retired in favour of modern motor coasters.[1]

De Wadden was sold to Mr McSweeney in Dublin, who took her to Scotland for use in a number of roles from carrying sand to taking out fishing parties. She appeared in the BBC series The Onedin Line sometime during the show's run between 1971 and 1978.[3] The ship suffered a collision in the early 80s and was beached and left to rot,[6] until her owner, Kenneth Kennedy of Dunoon sold her to the Merseyside Maritime Museum for £20,000 in 1984.[3][7]

Following her purchase by the museum she was moored in the Canning Half Tide Dock outside of the museum building itself in 1984.[8] Between 1984 and 1987, the additional superstructure she had gained during her final years of service was gradually removed and placed into storage due to suffering damage caused by rot, as well as the museum wishing to restore her to her Irish Sea Trading Vessel configuration.[3] The last piece to be removed was the ship's wheelhouse, remaining in place as late as 1986.[9]

In late 1987, the vessel was moved into No.2 Canning Graving Dock in order to enable the museum to carry out further maintenance and restoration. For a brief time in the 1990s the vessel was open for tours and educational sessions, though she was closed for further conservation work.[10], including the replacement of her poop deck coamings[3]

In June 2022, National Museums Liverpool (NML) had announced that it had launched a feasibility study on De Wadden's future, and were considering disposing of the vessel,[11] which had confirmed that the costs of ongoing repairs and maintenance to the vessel were unsustainable.[2] Several options were formed by NML as for what could be done to De Wadden, including moving the vessel to another location within NML's estate, however this option was discounted due to the significance of the costs involved. This left her owners with two options, either disposal by deconstruction, or disposal by transfer to another organisation.[12] So, in October 2022, NML's board of trustees had agreed to the disposal of De Wadden, and between December 2022 and February 2023 a notice of intent to deconstruct was posted to the National Historic Ships website. Even after the declaration of intent to deconstruct was made, the museum had continued to welcome potential transfer options up until February 2023, however no suitable buyer was discovered, so it was agreed that disposal by transfer was not a realistic option.[2] Following this, the final recommendation was made to NML's board of trustees in March 2023 and the decision to dispose of De Wadden via deconstruction was made, with the process to begin towards the end of 2023.[12][13] The museum has committed itself to preserving as much of De Wadden as possible, including a 3D video model of the ship, keeping certain parts of the ship,[12] and photogrammetry.[3]