ASC apprentices to assist City of Adelaide clipper restoration

A team of apprentices from ASC will help restore the City of Adelaide clipper, built in 1864, working with the City of Adelaide Preservation Trust.

According to a statement from ASC – the country’s long-time submarine builder and sustainer – the apprentices would make custom stanchions as one of their first projects. The team would be manufacturing products through supplied designs, aiming to restore the clipper’s historic features.

“The City of Adelaide is of composite construction, with a wooden hull over an iron frame, enabling metal work projects to be undertaken by the apprentices,” said Preservation Trust Director Peter Christopher.

“The work to be undertaken by ASC apprentices will significantly speed up the restoration  work being undertaken by our volunteers.”

The ship was returned to South Australia in 2014, after being kept in a state of neglect in Scotland. In its day it made 23 return trips between London and Adelaide.

ASC CEO Stuart Whiley said the complexity of working something as sophisticated as a submarine gave apprentices exposure to a wide range of challenges and problem-solving tasks.

“Extending that to the City for Adelaide clipper restoration project gives our apprentices another context in which to develop their skills, and demonstrate the results to the public,” said Whiley.  

“This is an exciting new partnership with the City for Adelaide, which will contribute to supporting local heritage and further improve our community for the future.”  

ASC employs 70 apprentices in Western Australia and South Australia, and is preparing for a new intake next year.

“It’s going to be nice to know that there’s a little piece of our work on the clipper ship, which people and their children will get to see every day when they go through on tours,” said current apprentice Connor Norris (pictured.)

Picture: Supplied

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