Shipwright Hercules Linton designed the iron steamship the Lady Alice Kenlis in 1867. Its remains, which are categorised as a hulk rather than a wreck as it was abandoned, now lie in the River Deben on the Sutton Hoo estate in Suffolk.

Linton went on to design the Cutty Sark which launched two years later in 1869.

The Victorian tea clipper, now at Royal Museums Greenwich, was one of the fastest of its time, making the journey from Sydney to London by sail in 73 days.

Historic England said that the Lady Alice Kenlis gives an insight into Linton's evolution of thought, and the remains will now be protected by law.

Chief Executive Duncan Wilson said: "Whilst only the rather ghostly remains of the Lady Alice Kenlis survive, it deserves protection as an important part of our seafaring history.

"Being able to see the hulk of the ship itself emerging from the intertidal zone of the River Deben is striking and unusual."

The ship was named after Alice Maria Hill, daughter of the Earl of Hillsborough, who married Lord Kenlis, a politician and the Earl of Bective in Ireland, to become Lady Alice Kenlis in 1867.

It was built by J&R Swan in Maryhill, Glasgow, and launched on 23 December 1867.

The hull was heavily built in comparison to other iron ships of the time to allow it to be more easily loaded and unloaded in shallow waters.

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The ship was fitted with a two-cylinder 40 horsepower engine and rigged as a three-masted schooner.

A schooner is a type of vessel with two or more masts.

Serving as a cargo ship in 1868, it was used to carry cattle, goods and passengers between Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

It was briefly used as a ferry, later re-registered as the Holman Sutcliffe and converted into a suction dredger in 1913.

The vessel continued as a dredger until it was partially dismantled in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Arts and heritage minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: "The hulk of the Lady Alice Kenlis offers us an important insight into the work of Hercules Linton who became one of the most notable shipwrights of the 19th century.

"I am delighted that this important piece of our national heritage has been given protected status so that it can be preserved for generations to come."