Fundraising and promotion
| Significance has been the impetus for fundraising for the preservation of the Nelcebee. |
Australia’s oldest powered ship, Nelcebee
Australia’s oldest powered ship, Nelcebee, became part of the South Australian Maritime Museum’s collection in 1985. Nelcebee, an iron steamship of 144 tons, was built in Scotland and shipped in pieces to South Australia in 1883, where it was assembled by Thomas Cruickshank. It has been converted at various times to run on sail, steam and diesel and has been a tug, a lighter and a coastal trader. In 1927 it was converted to a two-masted schooner and became part of the ketch fleet carrying cargoes, including grain, around South Australia’s ports.
Nelcebee, Australia’s oldest powered ship now in need of restoration
Reproduced courtesy of South Australian Maritime Museum
Nelcebee had its share of dangerous incidents. It was involved in a collision with a schooner in 1935, and had to jettison 250 bags of wheat. In 1951, battered by heavy seas off Point Turton, it ran aground; and in 1965 it foundered and was abandoned in St Vincent’s Gulf. Towed back to Port Adelaide, pumped out and returned to service, Nelcebee worked for nearly two decades more, and made its final run, to Kangaroo Island, in April 1982.
Click HERE to see an excerpt from the statement of significance.
