Cutty Sark: Difference between revisions

After the [[SS Agamemnon (1865)|big improvement]] in the [[fuel efficiency]] of steamships in 1866, the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869 gave them a shorter route to China, so ''Cutty Sark'' spent only a few years on the tea trade before turning to the trade in [[wool]] from [[Australia]], where she held the record time to Britain for ten years.<ref>{{cite web|title=1883–95 The Australian Wool Years|url=http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/1883-95-australian-wool-years|date=9 October 2015}}</ref> [[SS Aberdeen (1881)|Continuing improvements]] in steam technology early in the 1880's1880s meant that steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia, and the ship 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|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 Frederick William (1860)|HMS ''Worcester'']]. By 1954, she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to 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]]). She is one of only three remaining intact [[Composite ship|composite construction]] (wooden hull on an iron frame) ships from the nineteenth century, the others being the clipper {{ship||City of Adelaide|1864|2}}, now in [[Port Adelaide]], [[South Australia]] and the warship {{ship|HMS|Gannet|1878|6}} in [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]]. The beached skeleton of ''[[Ambassador (clipper)|Ambassador]]'', of 1869 lying near [[Punta Arenas]], Chile is the only other significant remnant of this construction method.

''Cutty Sark''{{'}}s [[Race Cutty Sark and Thermopylae|well-known race against]] ''[[Thermopylae (clipper)|Thermopylae]]'' took place in 1872, the two ships leaving [[Shanghai]] together on 18 June. Both ships were of similar size: length, beam and depths were within {{convert|1|ft|spell=in|1}} of each other. The ''Thermopylae'' had a slightly larger capacity: 991 compared to 963 (GRT) or 948 compared to 921 (net).{{sfn|Carr|1964|p=5}} Two weeks later ''Cutty Sark'' had built up a lead of some {{convert|400|nmi|mi km}}, but then lost her rudder<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/15131.html|title=The tea clipper Thermopylae|publisher=[[National Maritime Museum]]}}</ref> in a heavy gale after passing through the [[Sunda Strait]]. John Willis's brother was on board the ship and ordered Moodie to put into [[Cape Town]] for repairs. Moodie refused, and instead the ship's carpenter Henry Henderson constructed a new rudder from spare timbers and iron. This took six days, working in gales and heavy seas which meant the men were tossed about as they worked and the brazier used to heat the metal for working was spilled out, burning the captain's son. The ship finally arrived in London on 18 October a week after ''Thermopylae'', a total passage of 122 days. The captain and crew were commended for their performance and Henderson received a £50 bonus for his work. This was the closest ''Cutty Sark'' came to being first ship home but it was Moodie's last trip as her captain before he transferred to steamships. He was replaced by Captain F. W. Moore.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}