Taken from the website www.thalassa-online.com
Contribution of Mr. Julio ARAVENA. Translated by Lorna and Clive SWAIN.
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For as long as 130 years, the “Cutty Sark”, like Admiral Nelson’s “Victory”, has been one of Great Britain’s most famous ships.

Cutty Sark’s fame does not originate from her having taken part in great naval engagements, as did Admiral Nelson’s Victory, but from her long history in the transportation of tea. For almost 100 years, this sailing ship linked the British Isles with her colonies, transporting tea and wool. In the XXth century, Cutty Sark earned well-deserved retirement from her commercial activity and became what she is now, the principal attraction at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Cutty Sark was launched on 22nd November 1869 at Dumbarton (United Kingdom). She was built under orders from John “Jock” Willis, a trader who invested all his efforts in this project. Cutty Sark was a revolutionary vessel for those times. She was a “Clipper”, a lighter cargo vessel than the rest of her contemporaries, which sadly enough would soon be eclipsed by modern steamships.

Willis’ aim was to win the major annual seafaring race held by sailing ships carrying the new season’s tea crop from China to Great Britain. This merchant’s ships had never showed a good performance, for which reason he decided to turn the scales with a unique vessel.

The Designer: Hercules Linton
The building of the ship has a history of its own. She was originally designed by Hercules Linton, a partner in the Scottish shipyards Scott & Linton, a company that had never before built a vessel with the sail spread of the Cutty Sark, and applied the same policy they utilized for all their projects: The best for the minimum price.

This principle led to bankruptcy shortly before the building of this historic vessel was completed. Finally, William Denny & Brothers, builders, took over the final details of the Cutty Sark.

The History of the Cutty Sark
The launching of the Cutty Sark coincided with the opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt – then a British colony – the works which shortened the maritime traffic from Asia to Europe. The canal joining the Red Sea and the Mediterranean meant that the ships were able to avoid having to circumnavigate all the African continent.

Unfortunately for the new clipper, this pass was not accessible for sailing ships, therefore her history in the transportation of tea was rather short. She carried out diverse services from 1877 until 1885, and then specialized in the transportation of wool from Australia, an activity she was involved in until 1922. During this period, Cutty Sark beat a few speed records, among others, the fastest ship in covering the distance from England to Australia.

The clipper later passed into Portuguese hands. The Ferreira company assigned the ship to the route linking Portugal with Brazil and New Orleans - a new phase which lasted until 1922. During this time, her different owners worked her to the maximum, later returning her to Britain for repairs.

It was then that a retired naval officer, Captain Wilfred Dowman, came on the scene and purchased the Cutty Sark for a sum of 3,750 pounds, and restored her for his private use. When he died in 1938, Dowman’s widow donated her to the Thames Nautical Training College in Greenhithe where she was converted into a training ship for young cadets.

It was not until after World War II that homage was paid to the grandeur and exploits of this ship, including her as an item of importance in the permanent collection at the Greenwich Maritime Museum. And there she finally remained. As close to 15 million people from all over the world have done, today she can still be visited at the dry dock she occupies facing the Museum premises in Greenwich.

A Whisky Called Cutty Sark
Liquor lovers will no doubt recognize “Cutty Sark” as one of the most famous brands of whisky in the world. In fact, the coincidence between the names of this whisky and of the vessel is not fortuitous. The manufacturers adopted the name of the vessel for their brand of liquor at the beginning of the twentieth century.