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Cutty Sark Ship. Photo by Tilman2007/Dr. Volkmar Rudolf . .

Top 10 Astonishing Facts about the Cutty Sark Ship

Cutty Sark Ship is a British clipper ship launched at Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire – Scotland in 1869. The Cutty Sark was 212 feet 5 inches long and 36 feet wide and it weighed 921 tonnes.

The ship was built on the River Leven to carry tea from China. She successfully navigated eight voyages from London to China with a cargo of tea. The name Cutty sark means short shirt.

It was derived from the clothes worn by the witch Nannie in Robert Burn’s poem Tam o’Shanter.

Cutty Sark Ship visited many major ports in the world. It, therefore, become famous for its record-breaking passages and great strength and speed.

She is now part of the Royal Museums Greenwich which includes the Royal Observatory, National Maritime Museum, and Queen’s House. Let us now look at the top 10 astonishing facts about Cutty Sark Ship.

1. The Cutty Sark’s name has literary origins

Tam O’Shanter – A Tale. Glenriddell Manuscript. Robert Burns. Not actually in his handwriting. Photo by Robert Burns. Wikimedia Commons.

The name was lifted from a poem by Robert Burns called the Tam O’Shanter. The poem is about a farmer, Tam, who is chased by the witch Nannie.

The Nannie is wearing a ‘cutty sark’ which is a short garment. It is believed that Jock Willis, the ship’s original owner may have given it the name out of a sense of Scottish pride. His other ship was named Halloween out of Robert Burns’s poems.

2. The Cutty Sark was a clipper-class ship

The clippers Cutty Sark and Thermopolae racing. Photo by Anonymous – Chatterbox for 1923. .

It was used to transport tea from China to England. This is because the ship was built for speed. It featured a narrow hull, a wide, forward-raked bow, and a square rig on a three-mast setup. These features were specially designed to enable the ship cut through waves seamlessly.

This would be efficient for the transporting of produces such as tea, cocoa, and coal across the continent. The high speed attained by clipper-class ships led to the formation of the ‘Race of the Tea Clippers’. This was an annual event where crews battled to bring the first tea shipment of the year.

3. The Cutty Sark was set in flames in 2007

The Cutty Sark was set up in flames by vandals while undergoing restoration. The ship was extensively damaged. The London Fire Brigade kept the fire under control several hours later.

Luckily, half of the timber and other elements of the ship had not been on board because of the restoration process. The fire increased the cost of restoration by 5 – 10 million pounds. The total cost of restoration eventually became around 30 – 35 million pounds.

4. The building of the ship was commissioned by John ‘Jock’ Willis

Jock Willis, ship-owner who commissioned Cutty Sark. Photo by
Unknown author – Royal Museums Greenwich..

Jock Willis a Scottish ship-owner commissioned the building of Cutty sark from a company named Scott & Linton in 1868. The contract to build the ship was signed by both parties on 1^st February 1869.

The building of the ship was to be completed by 30^th July 1869. Jock Willis drew up the exact specifications he wanted in the ship. The ship was designed by Hercules Linton. The building of the ship was supervised by a surveyor appointed by Willis called Captain George Moodie.

The deadline to deliver the ship was missed incurring heavy fines on the company. The construction was completed by the creditors of the company. It was launched on 22^nd November 1869.

5. She was sold to Portuguese merchants who renamed her Ferraira

In 1895, Jock Willis sold Cutty Sark to a Portuguese firm named Joaquim Antuines Ferrari for 1,250 dollars. She was consequently renamed Ferraira after the firm.

Her crew referred to her as Pequena Camisola a direct translation for the little shirt, Scots cutty sark. While in the hands of the firm, she traded cargos between Portugal, Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Mozambique, Angola, and Britain.

6. The Cutty Sark was turned from a clipper to a slower barquentine

In May 1916, Cutty Sark was dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope. This happened because the ship had been rolling in bad weather. It was towed into Table Bay off Cape Town.

Due to world war I that was going on, it was impossible to get suitable materials to replace the mast. She was therefore turned into a barquentine sail arrangement. This occurred for over 18 months.

7. She is the only surviving clipper ship in the world

Cutty Sark with Canary Wharf in background. Photo by LondonHistoryatHome.

Cutty Sark is the world’s only surviving clipper in the world. Most of the fabric in the hull dates back to the materials used originally in the construction of the ship.

Clipper ships are characterized by three features; a long, narrow hull, a sharp bow that cuts through waves rather than riding atop, and three raking mats.

8. The ship’s longest-serving captain is Captain Richard Woodget

Richard Woodget was an English sea captain. He is best known for being the master of Cutty Sark. He sailed the ship during her most successful days in the wool trade between Australia and the United Kingdom.

He was master of the Cutty Sark between 1885 and 1895. During his days as captain, Cutty Sark was first then other ships by up to 25 days.

9. The ship is now berthed on a dry dock in Greenwich

The hull of Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Photo by LondonHistoryatHome. .

Cutty Sark is preserved as a museum ship south-east of England in Greenwich. She has since become a tourist attraction and is part of the National Historic Fleet.

On 25^th April 2012, the Queen officially opened the ship to tourists. It is a historic exhibition that is open all around the year.

10. The hull of the ship has copper and zinc on it

The copper and zinc lined on the ship’s hull are for keeping seaweed, barnacles, and molluscs away. It also made them unable to burrow into the ship. Copper bleeds into the water.

This stops the seaweeds and water creatures unable to get a grip on the ship. Cutty Sark flew a flag with the symbols J K W S which depicted the name Jock Willis from her mainmast. It had a blue background with a white diamond and a red cross in the centre.