I was a bit too young to remember the first time the Tall Ships called into Aberdeen in 1991, but I remember having the t-shirt! I do remember the buzz of 1997 though, watching the ships leave from Torry and the fireworks. That’s why it’s great that a new generation of Aberdonians (and visitors) will get the chance to make maritime memories themselves.
It’s also a chance to reflect on Aberdeen’s contribution to the Tall Ships Races. The Tales of the Tall Ships exhibition at the Maritime Museum will include a model of the Malcolm Miller, a schooner-rigged sailing ship built in the city by John Lewis & Sons, and launched in 1967. It was commissioned by the Sail Training Association (now the Tall Ships Youth Trust) which organised the Tall Ships Races, to act as a training ship and take part in the Races along with its elder sister ship Sir Winston Churchill (launched at Hessle, Yorkshire in 1966). Both ships visited Aberdeen in 1991 and 1997, continuing a legacy of training new mariners from around the world in friendly competition since the first Tall Ships Race in 1956.
Tall Ships in Aberdeen Harbour oil painting by Nigel Grounds (1991), depicting the Malcolm Miller and Sir Winston Churchill (© Nigel Grounds)
The Malcolm Miller was sold to a private buyer in 2000, and through an unfinished refit and a minor fire before being completely refitted in Gdansk, Poland to be relaunched in 2014. The ship is still afloat, registered in Cyprus and operating as a chartered yacht.
Another living legacy of an Aberdeen- built sailing vessel that is covered in the exhibition is that of the Elissa, the barque-rigged ship built by Alexander Hall & Co and launched in 1877. It is now docked at Galveston, Texas in the USA and acts as a floating museum that still sails. It’s also ne of the world’s oldest vessels that still sails. The exhibition features a model of the Elissa made by a prisoner on death row in the USA and donated to the Maritime Museum in 1997.
Tales of the Tall Ships opens at the Maritime Museum on Saturday 22 March. Open daily, admission free. We look forward to SEA-ing you!
