Models of Cargo Ships

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Glasgow Museums has a collection of ship models representing cargo ships dating from the late 18th century to the 20th century. People have needed to move raw materials and finished goods at every period of history. If there are no well-made roads and reliable wheeled vehicles, and if you are close to a river or the coast, then a simplest boat can carry a large cargo with ease. The rise of Empires who wished to control, and exploit, the resources of their dominions only increased a reliance on water-borne cargo transport – everything from ancient Roman cargoes of olive oil and wine to the troopships and tea-clippers of the nineteenth century. Now the global economy means that most raw materials trade goods still travel huge distances by sea. The shipbuilders of the River Clyde came to specialise in building cargo ships of all types. Of the 230 models in this part of the collection, 72 represent sailing ships, such as Waterloo, and 158 are of steam engine or motor-powered vessels such as Rathlin. The construction of the ships they represent dates from the late eighteenth century to the late twentieth century. It’s commonly assumed that steam power replaced sailing ships in the later part of the nineteenth century, but they were built in tandem for many years, the earliest model of a steam cargo ship in the collection, the Princess Royal, dates from 1841 and the most recent model of a sail powered ship from 1907. Sail remained for many decades the most economic method of carrying bulky cargoes of grain, wool or nitrates for fertilizer while steam engines could carry high value and perishable goods faster and to more of a timetable. Modern cargo shipping is dominated by bulk carriers and container ships and the collection has one example of a Clyde-built container ship.

Broader term

Ship Models

Staff Contact

Emily Malcolm