There is a subject that almost inevitably causes right- eous passion in those holding opposing opinions whenever it is discussed. The subject is «should historic and signifi- cant vessels be restored so they can continue sailing, or should they be conserved and displayed indoors or in Historic and Significant dry-docks». There is usually no middle ground on this is- sue, with arguments both for and against presented in Ships and Boats. barely suppressed fury. I know, having been involved for Preservation versus several years in what may become the most thorough and exhaustive inquiry regarding how we should treat a Use historic and significant vessel. I speak of the Asgard, that evocative wooden ketch, designed and built by Colin Ar- John Kearon cher in 1905. Her history is well known to those who sail, Head of Shipkeeping, Industrial or are familiar with European maritime and political his- & Land Transport Conservation tory. She has particular historic relevance in Ireland. Her National Museums & Galleries owner, Erskine Childers, author of The Riddle of the On Merseyside, Liverpool Sands, superb yachtsman, war-hero, patriot and ultima- tely a martyr in the struggle for Irish independence, saw to that. For the few brief years, between 1969 and 1974, Asgard also served as Ireland’s first national sail training vessel. From 1979 to this year, she has been displayed under cover in a courtyard at Kilmainham Jail Museum, Dublin. The issues that surround Asgard apply also to most vessels deemed significant, and a consideration of those issues will strike a chord amongst all who care for unique and historic craft. Asgard is suffused with history and has survived with a hull that is approximately 90% origi- nal, including her wooden deck, in place now almost a century. A passionate debate has ensued over the past decade on whether she should be conserved ashore or restored to sailing condition. Two opposing groups conti- nue to make their sincere appeals, and each are claiming that they are right. A decision, in 2000, to release her from Government control to the group advocating resto- ration to sail has led to a growing and vocal opposition to her proposed restoration as the reality of what will hap- pen to her becomes known. In Asgard’s case, it would seem obvious that she be conserved. She is both historically and structurally im- portant, and is a designated significant archaeological [ object. She retains the great majority of her original built Perspectives del patrimoni marítim europeu Historic and Significant Ships and Boats. Preservation versus Use D 70 structure. If she is conserved, all that original material Arklow trading schooner, De Wadden, a steel vessel built would be saved. With missing components replicated, she in the Netherlands in 1917, now conserved at Merseyside has the potential to become the majestic and evocative Maritime Museum, was considered for restoration to sail centrepiece of a gallery dedicated to her fascinating his- amidst enthusiastic and optimistic forecasts. Ultrasonic tory. tests of her hull and deck suggested a replacement of If Asgard is restored to sail, she will, by necessity, lose some 80% of her plating. We changed our minds. the majority of her original structure. The issue has focu- Restoring old ships and boats and continuing to use sed the minds of many in Ireland, even to the highest poli- them is a commendable practice that must be encoura- tical levels. Government Ministers and civil servants alike ged. It helps promote and keep alive the related archaic have, for the first time, engaged with the horrors of skills in an increasingly technologically complex world. that scourge of sailors (and bread-winner of shipwrights), The practice also keeps alive the skills engaged in using the dreaded «Nail Sickness» –the destructive result of the these vessels and in caring for them, as can be seen from interaction of wood and metal in water. Survey reports the many Festivals of the Sea that keep tradition alive have soberly focused minds on the reality behind the de- around our coasts. Vessels such as the Liverpool tug ceptively sound appearance of her structure –a reality of Brocklebank, based at Merseyside Maritime Museum and corroding, disintegrating metal and degraded wood. run entirely by volunteers, is typical of craft that are not Over-riding all is the engagement with the words con- in themselves important, but represent a genre and en- servation and restoration. One would never foresee such courage and keep alive traditional maritime skills. A con- confusion as caused by these two words. Many believe trasting example is the barque Kaskalot, a commercially them both to mean the same thing, a protective process run vessel that is available for charter. Both vessels are perhaps, or what is done to works of art and other impor- working beyond what would be seen as their natural life- tant objects to save them. Conservation does indeed sig- span through committed volunteers and owners who nify protection and care, and is the overriding approach maintain them and keep them sailing. They, and many taken in museums to protect and preserve objects. Res- others, have an important role to play in presenting, in a toration, however, is a much-misused word that, in reality, working context, the many ships and boats that typify can mean destruction. But, usually destruction smoth- maritime technology. ered with soothing words and cloaked actions, particu- However, there must be careful thought given to ves- larly when concerning ships and boats. Now, you see sels that are more than just old and interesting, and from the old boat being taken to a boat-yard, then, you see which some further use can be gleaned. By all means, res- the wonderful restored boat emerging. The reality that tore old ships and boats, but think very carefully indeed there may be no more than a few pieces of the original of doing the same to craft that we, as museum conserva- structure left is seldom considered. Restoration is repli- tors and curators, have designated as being unique and cation by stealth. historically or structurally significant. If we continue to Those of us who care for old vessels know the reality promote the restoration and use of such vessels, we will of restoration; the sobering effect of finding the optimis- eventually lose that which we set out to preserve and tic estimates of material replacement escalating, as rea- protect. For one thing is certain, in virtually all restora- lity dawns amidst the removal of planks, the opening up tion projects carried out on both wooden and metal of frames or on the arrival of the plating ultrasonic tests. craft, a great deal of original material is lost and repla- The rusted fastenings and fittings, the wood and metal ced with new. This is not done simply to make a soun- that are beyond saving, finally become reality. A reality der vessel or for aesthetic reasons. It is done because far from the preceding optimistic and heady discussions marine safety demands it. The desire to retain as much that saw only the vessel sail on a sparkling sea. The last original material as possible can be over-ridden by the

71 The Liverpool Pilot ship Edmund Gard- ner is preserved in dry-dock at Mersey- side Maritime Mu- seum.

reality of vessels in which wood has degraded or metal by the finding, on the removal of layers of coatings, that plating is worn and pitted. It is reality that causes the seating and rowing positions had been altered. All such loss of original material. The reality of a degradable ob- information can be lost or not realised during a process ject having spent too long in an inhospitable and des- of restoration. tructive environment. In the case of Asgard, restoration will mean the remo- val of all hull-planking, 80% of which is original, including Some would say that such loss of material does not the bronze nails and juniper treenail fastenings. The po- really matter –that ships and boats have material repla- tential for frame loss is also great, given the effect of co- ced throughout their lives. This is only partly true; a great rroding metal. Some of you may ask how a vessel fixed many of the vessels that form museum collections are with bronze could have serious corrosion problems. Un- predominately original. It is that originality that confers fortunately, over her life, she was thrice re-fastened with status on craft that are historically or structurally impor- galvanised steel nails.This mix of different metals, unbe- tant. In a historic context, lievable in a vessel of As- the original material pro- gard’s status, has led to vides a direct physical link each plank on each frame to the period or events having some four or five with which it is associa- fastenings. The bronze, ted. In structurally impor- zinc and steel, all in close tant craft, that same ma- proximity, have, with the terial is the means by addition of seawater du- which we gain knowledge ring her time afloat, pro- of form and usage and of duced hundreds of active the development of mari- and destructive batteries time technology, be it na- throughout the hull. Fur- tional or regional. If we thermore, her double alter or remove original frames have iron straps material, we compromise across each butt joint, all uniqueness and authenti- have degraded extensi- city and profoundly alter vely. Such a scenario is the status of the vessel depressingly common. concerned. We can also lose a wealth of information con- One just has to read the many articles in yachting maga- tained in a vessel’s original fabric. This can include the zines, detailing the restoration of an abundance of craft, human element of those who built the vessel. Doubt over to realise how destructive a threat to original material the authenticity of several deck-beams in Asgard was re- restoration can be. solved by the finding of faded, pencilled text on an al- An example is the Isle of Man half-decker Master most inaccessible beam surface, proclaiming ‘Pall Gun- Frank, the last of her type. The heading of the article on larsen, Laurvik 1905’. This person proved, through the her restoration says that the vessel was formed of 582 Colin Archer archive, to be a shipwright in the Archer separate parts and all but 32 have been replaced. The yard a century ago. Other markings found identify pe- final ironic sentence says that she is now 102 years old riods of alteration and maintenance from 1929 to 1972. and ready to enter the 21st century. The question of The belief that a Victorian gig at Merseyside Maritime what she might be entering it as is neither asked nor Museum was an unaltered original was proven incorrect answered. The last Irish Sea wooden trading schooner,

Perspectives del patrimoni marítim europeu Historic and Significant Ships and Boats. Preservation versus Use D 72 The Liverpool tug Brocklebank is main- tained and sailed by The Friends of Mer- seyside Maritime Mu- seum Volunteers.

Kathleen & May, is presently in the final stages of her whether necessary through either damage or decay, second major restoration in 25 years. A restoration would mainly have been carried out using materials and that will see very little of the original vessel left. Many methods in keeping with the original specification. Gi- of us are concerned over what is happening to such im- ven the materials involved –predominately oak, and in portant vessels. Max Vinner, in a recent article on the astounding quantities– it is now exceedingly difficult, working boat collection at Roskilde in Maritime Life and and often impossible, to acquire the same specification Traditions magazine, wonders if it is right to restore old material today, simply because of de-forestation in the boats and worries that we might well reduce or ruin the past. source value for posterity. Such concerns are growing Modern methods of wood usage, such as glued lamina- as we see the effects of even occasional use on old im- tions, are then resorted to in order to retain structural portant vessels. The point is ironically made when con- integrity. The Victory has undergone extensive replace- sidering another Archer vessel, Frithjof, of 1891, which ment of her structure, mainly in the form of laminated has lost virtually all of components, often not of her original structure the same species of wood through restoration. Her originally used. In such original iron keel, the lar- practice, we begin to tre- gest remaining part of ad a path that alters fun- her, stands abandoned damentally the original on the site of Colin Ar- specification for the ship. cher’s slipway at Larvik. Over time, though vi- The loss of original sually correct, the struc- material is not confined ture and fabric of the to vessels being restored vessel is altered. In es- to use. Most of the larger sence, the 18th century boats and ships being ship is rebuilt using 20th protected are perma- century technology and nently in the open, either materials. ashore or in dry-docks, This process may be largely at the mercy of unavoidable when deal- the weather. HMS Vic- ing with very large wood- tory, has sustained a continuous loss of material through en ships that are deteriorating, and perhaps, that must restoration. Such 18th Century ships of war are among be accepted. However, it is of the utmost importance the most complex wooden structures ever built, and that sight of the original aim –to preserve the ship– is not contain an enormous amount of material. The fashion lost and that fundamental changes to structural integrity in which they are formed, of large wooden compo- are recorded fully, otherwise we eventually present as nents, overlapping, converging, layered and bent to original what has, in fact, become a replica. shape, with a complicated criss-cross of metal faste- There are no easy options where ship conservation is nings, creates enormous problems when rot and infes- concerned. Even the medium-sized, structurally sound tation occur. 700 ton steel Liverpool Pilot cutter, Edmund Gardner, When in commission, extensive refits and repairs which is permanently dry-docked at Merseyside Maritime would have reduced considerably the amount of original Museum, requires constant and continuous care just to material present. However, replacement of material, prevent deterioration.

73 The Batavia is a re- plica of the original East-Indiaman Bata- via, which was built in Holland in 1628.

When compared to a large sailing ship such as the Clip- tersburg, Peter the Great’s boat that is said to have inspi- per Cutty Sark, similarly dry-docked at Greenwich, the red the foundation of the Russian Navy; the several and problems of care escalate enormously and extend across varied Viking ships at Roskilde, in Denmark, and in Ire- a greater range of expertise. The level of care necessary land, the unique 18th century French gig known as the to stabilise and treat a ship can vary greatly from vessel Bantry Boat, in the Irish National Maritime Museum. Indi- to vessel and is much affected by condition and type. The vidually unique, they all have one thing in common – they Cutty Sark, for example, is a composite-built ship, with are preserved indoors and on display; and more signifi- iron frames onto which her wooden planking is fixed, a cantly, most have had replicas built for use. Indeed, one form of construction that can cause seemingly irresolva- of the most prolific replica building programs is based on ble problems with wood/metal interaction, further aggra- the Bantry Boat, with over 40 built internationally, as vated by her outer copper sheathing. part of the Atlantic Challenge Foundation programme. The ideal solution for successfully conserving vessels The approach of preserving original vessels and repli- is that taken with ships cating them for analysis such as Vasa, in Sweden, and use is best served at Mary Rose, in England the Viking Ship Museum and Fram, in Norway, all at Roskilde, Denmark, of which are protected where an energetic policy indoors. These large sig- of replication is pursued. nificant ships are housed In our own museums, and in purpose-built building with our own unique that can be exorbitantly craft, we need to consi- expensive. Such structu- der emulating Roskilde’s res are often beyond the example, even if only on reach of most museums, a small scale. For exam- which, in reality, often ple, Merseyside Maritime struggle with inadequate Museum have built a re- funding and a dearth of plica of a small sailing conservator-craftspeople. dinghy that has local sig- However, there remains nificance and was built at the wish to sail or motor a once thriving Liverpool a vessel –to see it alive on water, and this is our dilem- boatyard, now long gone. By protecting and preserving ma. How to sail and analyse unique, original and often the original craft, and using it as a data base from which fragile vessels and still meet our responsibilities in pro- to take lines, we created a replica that, by its existence, tecting them for the future. allows the original vessel to be protected without contro- Vessels that fall into the unique and historically, or versy. structurally significant category, are of the type that Many will say that it is relatively easy to replicate comprise the bulk of Maritime Museum Ship and Boat Co- small craft, but extremely costly to do so with large ves- llections. They collectively provide physical evidence of sels where often the necessary infrastructure has to be the development of maritime technology and of man as created before building can begin. However, we need just an innovator and wanderer. Examples in an International consider the several large wooden replica ship projects context include the Egyptian Royal Barge of Cheops, the completed throughout Europe, from the Batavia in oldest surviving intact wooden boat; the Botik, in St Pe- Holland to the Dunbrody in Ireland, over the past two

Perspectives del patrimoni marítim europeu Historic and Significant Ships and Boats. Preservation versus Use D 74 decades. Each have greatly enhanced our knowledge of traditional ship-building and, more importantly, have pro- moted and popularised the skills that in some regions were close to being lost. Many of us will have witnessed the decline and loss of both ship and boat building yards over the past decades, and the decimation of associated skills and expertise, once regarded as timeless. So what should we do about the vexed question of whether to restore or not? We should, without question continue to encourage the restoring of old ships and boats of character, particularly those that have further life in them and that will enhance our seafaring environ- ment. But, we must also consider more carefully what we do with vessels that are more than just old or evocative. Those relatively few vessels, that are genuinely unique, are historically or structurally important or are, perhaps, the only survivor of a type, whether of local, national or international importance, we must protect. We must en- deavour to protect them in the fullest sense, with parti- cular emphasis put on conserving their original structu- ral integrity. We must move away from restoring to use significant and historically irreplaceable vessels, typified by the Asgard, otherwise we diminish irreversibly their status and make them ordinary and irrelevant, with origi- nality and integrity lost to posterity forever.

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