Cutty Sark

In her hey day, the Cutty Sark was a clipper ship who sailed the trade routes between China and Great Britain. Of all of the clippers designed in the 19th century, she alone gained an illustrious reputation for speed and efficient Clipper ships – meaning a ship with masts and a square rig – were used for decades as merchant ships, though the Cutty Sark was the last to be used for that purpose.

The original intention was for the Cutty Sark to sail the trade routes for tea, primarily between Great Britain and China. She was built in Scotland by trading firm Scott & Linton, and took her name from the Scottish description for a chemise or vest – cutty sark.

The highlight of the trade routes was the race to be back to Great Britain carrying the first tea of the year. Whichever ship reached port first was guaranteed to make the highest profit with their tea crop, and thus it was a highly competitive arena – and one which the Cutty Sark was designed to compete in. Unfortunately, on her first run in 1872, she lost her rudder shortly after departing from Shanghai.

It is this moment, most of all, that earned the Cutty Sark her place in history. Although the captain decided to continue the voyage with nothing more than a rudder improvised from things already on board, the ship was only a week behind the first to arrive back in Great Britain. Her passage time, at 122 days, was astonishing considering the rudder failure – and a legacy was born.

Unfortunately, the Cutty Sark was to do little more than make a reputation on very little; soon, the Industrial Revolution and steam ships were to take the tea route from old fashioned clippers. While slower, stream ships were more likely to survive the half-year voyage, and soon the Cutty Sark began working on the Australian wool trade routes. On this, her best run of 666 kilometers (360 nautical miles) in 24 hours was said to be the fastest of a ship of her size.

In 1895, with the wool trade also declining, the Cutty Sark was sold and renamed Ferreira. Another sale and change of name – to Maria do Amparo – would take place before she was bought by Captain Wilfred Dowman, who restored her original name and appearance. Dowman used her as a training ship, until in 1954 she was moved to a custom built dry dock in Greenwich; where she remains today.

The Cutty Sark has since been preserved as a museum ship, and is a popular tourist attraction. It is also a welcome sight for anyone running the annual London marathon, as the route passes around the ship itself and is roughly a half way marker. The Cutty Sark Trust, whose president is the Duke of Edinburgh, was set up to protect her in 1951. She has since been listed as a Grade I building.

Her story, however, had an unfortunate footnote in 2007, when fire broke out during conservation work. Rumors of arson arose, but were never proven. Although the initial reports of damage were almost total, it was later revealed that less than 5% of the original fabric had been lost, and many of the decks that had burnt were non-original features. In July 2008, the sum total of L35 million was raised to fully restore the ship. The restoration is set to be complete in 2010.