Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark is most likely to have carried 'Congou' - a general word for black tea, but her cargoes might also have included Bohea, Souchong and Pekoe.
 
The opening of the Suez Canal opened up the tea trade to steamships, reducing their voyage to China by 3,000 miles. Sailing ships like Cutty Sark were not able to use the Canal and were driven out of the tea trade as they could not compete with the quick and economic passages offered by the steamships. Her last tea voyage was in 1877; after this date, the ship was forced to look for other cargoes.

Cutty Sark went on to work in the Australian wool trade between 1883 and 1895 and at this time she became known as the fastest ship of her day. She regularly made the fastest passage of the season; bring over 5,000 wool bales back in 70 days or less.

Having been sold to the Ferreira shipping company of Portugal in 1895, Cutty Sark, renamed Ferreira, spent the next 27 years (including surviving the First World War) carrying cargoes to every major port in the world. In 1922 she was bought and restored by Captain and Mrs Dowman and became the first historic vessel since Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind to be open to the public. In 1938, after Captain Dowman's death, Cutty Sark was transferred to the Incorporated Thames Nautical Training College at Greenhithe and was used as an auxiliary training ship to HMS Worcester.
 

Cutty Sark was brought to Greenwich by the Cutty Sark Preservation Society in December 1954 and put to rest in a specially constructed dry-dock. Over two and a half years were spent on the ship's restoration, and in 1957 the ship was opened to the public.

Nearly 50 years later, the ship was closed again for an ambitious conservation project to address major structural issues and ensure the long term preservation of this iconic vessel. Cutty Sark reopened in April 2014, fully conserved, with a unique new offer; the ship had been raised over three metres allowing visitors for the first time to walk under a three-masted sailing ship and to see the secrets of her success.

For more information or to book tickets visit  www.rmg.co.uk/cuttysark

The closest Cutty Sark came to winning the tea race was in 1872.  On arriving in Shanghai in late May 1872, she met a rival ship, the Thermopylae when loading her tea cargo.  They both set sell on 17th June 1872 and were closely matched for much of the journey. 

Thanks to a strong tail wind, by 7th august, Cutty Sark had a 400 mile lead on the Thermopylae, however disaster struck on 15th August, when her rudder gave way.  Having reconstructed the rudder twice in heavy seas, she made it back to London on 19th October, 7 days after the Thermopylae.

Sadly, Cutty Sark never came that close again and in 1877 she moved on to other cargo transportation including travelling to and from Australia carrying the likes of coal and wool.

Following a number of transfers of ownership and undergoing a couple of restorations, sadly following a closure to the public in 2006 for restoration, she suffered a major fire on board in 2007 causing considerable damage, delays and drainage of funds. 

Thankfully, following an extraordinary uplift grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, restoration is now complete and this magnificent ship is open to the public once more and looking for majestic than ever.