The City of Adelaide is the world’s oldest surviving clipper ship, of only two that survive the other is the Cutty Sark (built 1869; a tea-clipper in Greenwich). With the Cutty Sark and HMS Gannet (built 1878; a sloop-of-war in Chatham), the City of Adelaide is one of only three surviving ocean-going ships of composite construction to survive.

The City of Adelaide is one of three surviving sailing ships, and the only of these a passenger ship, to have taken emigrants from the British Isles (the other two are the Edwin Fox and the Star of India). The City of Adelaide is the only surviving purpose-built passenger sailing ship.

Adding to its significance as an emigrant ship, the City of Adelaide is the last survivor of the timber trade between North America and the United Kingdom. As this trade peaked at the same time as conflicts in Europe, a great mass of refugees sought cheap passage on the timber-trade ships, that would otherwise be returning empty, creating an unprecedented influx of new immigrants in North America.