Tall ship to space ship as maritime memento is blasted into orbit

PART of a 19th-century tall ship built in Aberdeen has found a new home - in space.

American astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman took a piece of the deck of the Elissa with her when she docked with the International Space Station.

The three-masted barque has had several homes around the world and is now docked in Texas, where it is maintained by volunteers.

Before making her journey to the space station in December, Ms Coleman searched for mementos to take with her and friends suggested a piece of the ship.

Devon and Teresa Decker volunteer as "crew" at the Galveston Historical Foundation, which looks after the Elissa.

Mr Decker said: "Cady knows we are Elissa crew members so she asked us to provide her with some mementos to take with her to leave on the International Space Station."

"After a chat with the Texas Seaport Museum, they settled on a small section of Elissa's deck that had been replaced and a postcard bearing some details of her history on it" (pictured above right).

The Elissa is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship with 19 sails that can still be sailed today. Although Ms Coleman is set to return to Earth in May, the section of Elissa's deck will remain on board the International Space Station after she returns home.

Jamie White, director of the Texas Seaport Museum, said: "Elissa is much more than an artifact from a bygone era.

"She is a fully-functional vessel that, thanks to Galveston Historical Foundation and its commitment to bring history to life, and the dedication of hundreds of volunteers who keep her seaworthy and train each year to sail her, is alive and well."

Meredith Greiling, curator of Maritime History at Aberdeen Maritime Museum, said: "Although the deck will have been replaced many times over the years and this is unlikely to be a bit of genuine Aberdeen timber, it is very special to have an Aberdeen ship preserved in space like this.

"I don't know of any other ships that have been honoured in this way."

The tall ship was built in 1877 by Alexander Hall & Company.

After leaving Aberdeen the ship had several different owners and names.

For 90 years it was used to carry cargo around the world until ending its days in a scrap- yard in Piraeus Harbour in Greece, from where the vessel was rescued by a group of ship preservationists.

The Elissa takes part in sea trials every year in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Marjorie Lyle, granddaughter of Elissa's builder, Henry Fowler Watt, the name was taken from the epic Roman poem The Aeneid, which tells the tragic tale of Dido, Queen of Carthage.

Dido was originally a Phoenician princess named Elissa, who fled from Tyre to Africa and founded Carthage.