While the ship itself no longer exists in her entirety, many efforts have been made to ensure that much of her still exists to be kept and/or displayed. Most significantly, the Arklow Maritime Museum, along with support from the Arklow Shipping Limited through much effort over many months have acquired and brought sections of the ship over to one of the ship's former homes, Arklow.[1] Arklow is a town located in County Wicklow, Ireland,[2] and De Wadden, as previously established, was owned by a notorious Arklow ship-owner, Richard Hall.
Both the Arklow Maritime Museum and Arklow Shipping Limited were determined to preserve a physical piece of the ship from permanent disposal, with Arklow Shipping Limited itself having connections to De Wadden, for Richard Hall's son, Victor Hall, served as captain on board the ship for some time[3] before co-founding the Arklow Shipping Company in 1966 with fellow captains James Tyrrell and Michael Tyrrell.[4]
As of March 9th, 2024, these plans were successful, for the ship's bow and windlass have finally arrived at the town, courtesy of Arklow-based Dean Chambers Transport Ltd, ready for true preservation and display on behalf of the two organisations. The process of getting to this point was long and complex, and it is still ongoing. Work began when pieces of the ship were chosen for outdoor display, and then negotiations were held with National Museums Liverpool. The transfer of these parts was approved, and Arklow Maritime Museum, accompanied by Arklow Shipping Limited, are now looking for suitable places to display what they have saved after coming to an agreement in December 2023 with Wicklow County Council that the pieces of the ship would enhance the town's heritage. As plans continue, the pieces will be stored by Arklow Marine Services, who have agreed to do such for up to a year.[1]
The Arklow Maritime Museum has soared in popularity recently, it's visitor numbers increasing by a factor of eight. Despite the size of the museum doubling in only two years, they still lack space for many of their macro artefacts to be displayed publicly, thus they remain in storage. This includes, according to a spokesperson from the museum, 'two 19th century Coast Life-saving carriages, a large hull section of the Arklow schooner Tarragona', and of course the pieces of De Wadden they have saved. Work continues to ensure such items will be publicly displayed in future. In a final, uplifting phrase, the spokesperson stated 'Working together, the sky’s the limit.' [1]
In a post published to Facebook by National Historic Ships UK on June 13th 2024 detailing an intent to deconstruct the Mary Joseph, a nickey built in 1887 which has lost significant amounts of structural integrity and is at risk of collapsing. Surveys performed on the ship in anticipation of a decision being made on her future have revealed that the level of decay within all of her framing is astronomical and the cradle she currently resides on no longer provides enough support to the ever-collapsing hulk. In said post, the deconstruction of De Wadden is mentioned, reading 'An online presentation and discussion around the proposed deconstruction of the ship De Wadden from Liverpool Maritime Museum took place in Jan 2024 and has proven invaluable in providing guidance around this type of disposal.' This provides clarity on what influence the deconstruction of De Wadden has had on the processes used in deconstructing historic vessels, providing much practical insight so that NHS and many other organisations can take on what was learnt to perfect these strategies. Even at her end, De Wadden served a use.[5]
References
1. https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/arklow-news/community-effort-brings-historic-ship-de-wadden-back-to-home-port-in-wicklow/a795097027.html?fbclid=IwAR3TroekLVfRZDVq2vkDjDnQwgTgy7cj7WnXqsYfXoUQ9WlbztorzhKdomo_aem_ATW3JSbTLH03id8ufyudYYwxE-fybBfUS64xql_IKZd7df9yxHpzILImkTGxT4Rl492d2xBQbNL9-vX8tou5Jv4w Retrieved 2024-04-10.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arklow Retrieved 2024-04-10.
3. Kearon, J. (1985). Pugh, N. R. (ed.). Liverpool Nautical Research Society Bulletin, Volume 29. pp. 86–87. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
4. https://www.asl.ie/about-us/ Retrieved 2024-04-10.
5. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/m3HvojxvYXQCpyzE/ Retrieved 2024-06-13.