'Sadly the old girl has reached the end of her life' as historic ship's deconstruction begins

An historic 106-year-old ship which was utilised during the First World War has ‘sadly reached the end of its life’.

Whether they noticed it or not, anyone who has visited Canning Dock in the past few decades will have walked past the old De Wadden schooner, which has been dry-docked on the waterfront since 1987 following its purchase by the Maritime Museum.

Now, after discussions within National Museums Liverpool about the feasibility of the vessel and what should be done with it, a team has been brought in to deconstruct the ship.

In a post that has since been removed the company, who has been appointed to deconstruct the ship, said one of its teams had begun work to decommission the De Wadden schooner. Hightech Industrial Access said, in a Facebook post: “One of our teams have arrived on site to begin decommissioning the De Wadden schooner after “sadly, the old girl has reached the end of her life.”

De Wadden, a three-masted auxiliary schooner built in the Netherlands in 1917 was built by Gebr Van Diepen for the Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (Netherlands Steamship Company). The company commissioned De Wadden and her two sisters in order to take advantage of lucrative trading conditions created by Dutch neutrality in the First World War.

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

Purchased by the Merseyside Maritime Museum in 1984, De Wadden was drydocked in 1987 to allow for a programme of conservation and restoration. In the early 1990s, the museum briefly ran tours of the deck and education sessions, before this was withdrawn to allow further necessary conservation work to take place. Since then, conservation had been ongoing to stabilise the vessel which has remained in Canning Graving Docks.

In 2023, following a period of review and consultation, NML’s Board of Trustees approved its working group’s recommendation to record and dispose of De Wadden by deconstruction.

The process of deconstruction follows a programme set out by National Historic Ships for the responsible disposal of ships. From February 26, Canning Dock, the site where De Wadden is dry docked, will be closed to the public while the work, which is expected to last around two months, takes place.

De Wadden’s wheel will be retained in National Museums Liverpool’s collection, and a number of elements have been identified for transfer to Arklow Maritime Museum, Ireland. NML also say they are as committed to recycling as much material as possible.

The ECHO understands that NML is working with Windermere Jetty to produce a highly detailed virtual tour of the ship, comprising of more than 3,500 photographs and accompanied by high resolution panoramas.

Ian Murphy, Head of Maritime Museum said: “The deconstruction of De Wadden is the final stage in a long process of careful research and consultation.

“It has been a complex project during which it was important to be clear and honest about the reality of De Wadden, whilst also acknowledging the strong emotions it inspired among our own team and visitors alike.

“We are hugely grateful for the many organisations and individuals, national and from Liverpool’s own dedicated maritime community, who have been so generous with their passion, knowledge and support.

“As a result, we move into this next phase with an enriched understanding of how we produce a comprehensive record of De Wadden and preserve its stories within our collection of Liverpool’s unique maritime heritage once the ship itself is gone.”