Visitors to Greenwich, often make their way to the riverfront to see the Cutty Sark located in dry dock near the Thames. But few would know the incredible stories associated with the ship and its important role in British Maritime history.
Cutty Sark was built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest. She was named after the short shirt of the fictional witch in Robert Burns’ poem Tam o’ Shanter, first published in 1791.
The Cutty Sark is considered one of the ‘last tea clippers’, because sailing ships were being phased out and steamships were taking their place.
Cutty Sark was built for the tea trade, a seasonal trade of a high value cargo from China to London. Her first roundtrip voyage under captain George Moodie began on 16 February 1870 from London with a cargo of wine, spirits and beer bound for Shanghai. The return journey, carrying 1,305,812 pounds (592,306 kg) of tea from Shanghai, began 25 June, arriving 13 October in London via the Cape of Good Hope.
The ship came to a wider public notice with Cutty Sark’s well-known race against Thermopylae which took place in 1872, the two ships leaving Shanghai together on 18 June. Both ships were of similar size: length, beam and depths. The Cutty Sark built up a large lead but then lost her rudder in a heavy gale. The ship finally arrived in London on 18 October a week after Thermopylae.
In December 1883, Cutty Sark departed Newcastle, New South Wales with 4,289 bales of wool and 12 casks of tallow, arriving in London in just 83 days. This was 25 days faster than her nearest rival that year and heralded the start of a new career taking Australian wool to Britain. Cutty Sark then began to be known for the trade in wool from Australia, where she held the record time to Britain for ten years.
Improvements in steam technology meant that steamships came to dominate the longer sailing routes to Australia, and the Cutty Sark was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895 and renamed Ferreira.
She continued as a cargo ship until purchased in 1922 by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman, who used her as a training ship operating from Falmouth, Cornwall. After his death, Cutty Sark was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, Greenhithe, in 1938 where she became an auxiliary cadet training ship alongside HMS Worcester. By 1954, she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to a permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London, for public display.
Cutty Sark is listed by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building). The ship has been damaged by fire twice in recent years, first on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation and on 19 October 2014.
The Cutty Sark has become a major landmark and one of the major attractions in Greenwich, visitors can explore the ship by walking the main deck, enjoy stunning views across the River Thames, explore beneath the ship, take a virtual 3D tour, try family-friendly interactive displays and get a taste of life at sea with shanty singing and character actors.
For more information , visit the Royal Museums Greenwich website here
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