A historic schooner dating from 1917 will be scrapped after the National Museums of Liverpool in the UK decided its restoration and maintenance costs are unsustainable.

National Museums Liverpool’s Board of Trustees has approved the recording and disposal by deconstruction of the vessel, De Wadden, a three-masted auxiliary schooner built in 1917 by Gebr Van Diepen of Waterhuizen in Holland.

“It is very disappointing that no alternative solution has been found for De Wadden, and she will now sadly be lost from the Liverpool waterfront,” says Hannah Cunliffe, director of National Historic Ships UK. “However, I’m pleased that National Museums Liverpool will be working to our guidelines to ensure she is fully recorded and deconstructed in such a way that significant parts can be kept or re-homed, and her story continue being told.

“We will provide support to the museum team during this process, and her details will then be added to the National Archive of Historic Vessels where she will be documented in perpetuity.”

De Wadden

A team is now reviewing the various options to record the vessel, from photogrammetry to exploring what elements of De Wadden might be suitable to retain as part of the Maritime Museum’s collections or for other potential use.

National Museums Liverpool says it is also committed to the recycling of as much of the vessel’s materials as possible. In a statement, the organisation says: “We do understand there may be people who may find this decision around De Wadden upsetting, especially if you have a personal connection to the vessel or the type of work it did.”

The deconstruction is due to take place towards the end of 2023.

Following the end of the First World War, De Wadden was sold to Richard Hall of Arklow in the Republic of Ireland. From 1922 to 1961, the ship carried bulk cargo from the River Mersey to various Irish ports. 

De Wadden was purchased by the Merseyside Maritime Museum in 1984 and, by 1987, was drydocked to allow for a programme of conservation and restoration. In the early 1990s, the museum briefly ran some tours of the deck and education sessions before this was withdrawn to allow further necessary conservation work to take place.  

Since then, conservation has been ongoing to stabilise the vessel, which has remained drydocked in Canning Graving Docks. 

De Wadden

Exposed to weather and other factors, it became increasingly necessary to think about the long-term future for De Wadden.  A feasibility study was undertaken and demonstrated the costs of repairing the vessel and its continual maintenance to be unsustainable. 

In March 2022, a working group was assembled, and a programme of stakeholder engagement commenced.  Consultation took place with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Museums Association, National Historic Ships, Arts Council England, the International Congress of Maritime Museums, UK Maritime Heritage Network, and other UK and EU museums. 

The team also spoke to local heritage organisations and individuals with connections to Liverpool’s maritime heritage. Updates were shared with local and national media and through Maritime Museum’s social media accounts.  From June 2022, De Wadden was advertised on the Museums Association’s Find An Object service to flag its availability for transfer to other museums. 

In October 2022, following a recommendation from the working group, National Museums Liverpool’s Board of Trustees agreed to officially remove the vessel from its collections and scrap De Wadden. 

National Museums Liverpool says it has welcomed potential transfer opportunities. Between June 2022 to February 2023, several expressions of interest in De Wadden were logged from a mixture of individuals and organisations.  All were offered further information, including condition surveys, site visits and formal applications to progress. Of the applications that were returned, it was agreed none were compliant, and that disposal by transfer was not a realistic option.

In December 2022, MIN reported that the legendary 77-year-old tall ship Earl of Pembroke, which was used in films including Treasure Island, Count of Monte-Cristo, and Alice in Wonderland, had been sent to the scrapyard after almost eight decades on the water.

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