Cutty Sark has travelled across the world, sailing under both the Red Ensign and the Portuguese flag, visiting every major port in the world through the course of her working life. In admiration of her beauty and in recognition of her fame, she was preserved for the nation by Captain Wilfred Dowman in 1922. Since then, the old clipper has been berthed in Falmouth and Greenhithe, finally arriving at her current resting place in Greenwich in 1954.
Construction
Jock WillisOn the afternoon of Monday 22 November 1869, a beautiful little clipper ship of 963 tons gross was launched at Dumbarton on the River Leven. On that day, she was given a name that was to become renowned throughout the seafaring world.
Cutty Sark was built for John ‘Jock’ Willis, a seasoned sailing ship master who had taken over his father’s firm of ship owners in the port of London. Here he became better known as “White Hat Willis” because he always wore a white top hat. His ambition was for Cutty Sark to be the fastest ship in the annual race to bring home the first of the new season’s tea from China.
Hercules LintonThe ship was designed by Hercules Linton, a partner in the Dumbarton firm of Scott & Linton. It is believed that he moulded the bowlines of Willis’s earlier vessel the Tweed into the midship attributes of Firth of Forth fishing boats, creating a beautiful new hull shape that was stronger, could take more sail, and be driven harder than any other.
The company had never built a ship of this size before and ran into financial difficulties, eventually going bankrupt before the ship was completed. The final details of the fitting out had to be completed by William Denny & Brothers, Scott & Linton’s landlords and the guarantors for the completion of the work on the original contract.
The ship was towed to Greenock for final work on her masts and rigging. She was then brought to London to load her first cargo for China.
Cutty Sark is 280ft (85.4m) long overall and her beam measures 36ft (11m). Her moulded depth is 22.5ft (6.7m) and the height of the main mast from the main deck to the top is 152ft. Find out more in our facts and figures page.
History of fabric
Cutty Sark was a working cargo ship, enduring high seas and heavy weather, from 1869 until 1922. Throughout her working life, numerous repairs and alterations were carried out to the vessel to ensure she continued to perform her function effectively and safely.
Even after she ceased being a working vessel, modifications were made to the ship, for example to facilitate visitor access when she came to Greenwich in the 1950s.
1870-78: The China Tea Years
Cutty Sark by a Chinese artistOn 16 February 1870, Cutty Sark left London bound for Shanghai, via the Cape of Good Hope, on her first voyage. Commanded by Captain George Moodie, she carried “large amounts of wine, spirits and beer” (Captain’s abstract log). The arrival of the ship at Shanghai, with “manufactured goods”, is listed in The North China Herald of 2 June 1870. Departing with around 1,305,812 lbs of tea of tea on 25 June, she arrived back in London on 13 October 1870.
This is the first of eight voyages the ship successfully made to China in pursuit of tea. However, Cutty Sark never became the fastest ship on the tea trade. Dogged by bad winds and misfortune, she never lived up to the high expectations of her owner during these years. The closest the ship came to winning the tea race was in 1872, when she had the opportunity to race rival clipper ship Thermopylae head-to-head for the first time.
After arriving at Shanghai in late May 1872, she met Thermopylae when loading her tea cargo. With both sailing from Woosung on 17 June 1872, the two ships closely matched each other through the China Sea and into the Indian Ocean. By 7 August, and with a good tail wind, Cutty Sark found herself a good 400 miles ahead of Thermopylae. On 15 August, disaster struck when Cutty Sark’s rudder gave way. After reconstructing the rudder twice in heavy seas, the ship arrived back at London on 19 October, around 7 days after her rival. The courage and determination of Captain Moodie and his crew won Cutty Sark great credit, but Moodie retired from his command of the ship due to stress. The ship was never to get this close to winning the tea race again.
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