Cutty Sark

The world’s last remaining tea clipper was launched  from Dumbarton in Scotland in 1869.  At the time, the technical sophistication of the Cutty Sark made her a symbol of British Maritime power as she sailed the South China seas with cargos ranging from whisky to gunpowder.  Bringing tea from China and wool from Australia, her sleek shape and narrow hull enabled her to achieve a speed of 20mph and cover nearly 300 miles a day, unheard of at the time. She was thought of as the ‘Poster Girl’ of her time, being likened to Concorde or theSpace Shuttle in current times.

A photograph of the Cutty Sark taken by Captain Woodget, courtesy of The Merchant Navy Association
The photograph was taken in the open sea with a camera supported on a plank of wood fixed between two of the ship's boats.

Today, this spectacular national treasure was visited by Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to officially relaunch the Cutty Sark after a £50 million restoration project. The project suffered a devastating fire in 2007, but fortunately large parts of the ship had been taken off-site for restoration work so much of the original vessel still remains. In a few places where the originals were too badly damaged such as the top deck, the conservation teams resorted to creating a special composite material which looks just like the original deck.

Photo:  Getty Images

Prince Philip played a key role in getting the Cutty Sark brought back to Greenwich in the 1950s and has taken a keen interest in the restoration project. The work has been funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund along with large donations from benefactors, contributions from a very wide variety of members of the public,  along with pocket money donations from children who are delighted to see this major part of history being preserved.

Photo;  Getty Images

The ship is now ‘floating’ in its dry dock with a state of the art visitor centre all around the vessel creating a new Thames landmark on this World Heritage Site.