The Cutty Sark

  Up until recently, whenever I heard the words Cutty Sark I would associate them with this fine product.

But then a while back Geoff posted a blog entry about the "real" Cutty Sark.

Henceforth,  when we were in London we had to go and check out the original Cutty Sark for ourselves.

So you ask...

Ok maybe you don't ask ......

but........

what is the Cutty Sark and why is it famous?

First of all the Cutty Sark or what is left of this 19th Century sailing ship is located in Greenwich, which is famous around the world as the home of the historic Prime Meridian (the Prime Meridian separates the eastern and western hemispheres, just as the equator separates the northern and southern hemispheres). When you stand across the line, you have one foot in the east and one in the west.

That in itself is worth going to, so that one can have one foot on either side...

It took us a while to find the exact location, but once we did, we asked another couple (doing the same thing as us) to take our picture.

But I regress...let's get back to the Cutty Sark. 

 Some fun facts about the Cutty Sark.

• Cutty Sark cost £16,150 when it was first built.

• If all the sails were out, they would measure 32,000 square feet in total.

• There are 11 miles of rigging altogether.

• The main mast is 153 feet high.

• The hull was sheathed in a copper and zinc alloy. This was to prevent things like barnacles and molluscs from burrowing into the ship

• The ship’s motto was ‘When there’s a Willis a way’.

 Why was the Cutty Sark built?

  The Cutty Sark was built exclusively for the China tea trade. Tea had been enjoyed in Asia for centuries, but it did not reach Britain until the 1650s. Initially hailed for its medicinal qualities, tea was mainly enjoyed by the wealthy.

  Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869. Its owner John ‘Jock’ Willis, designer Hercules Linton and many of its crew members over the years were from Scotland. But despite its proud Scottish heritage, London was to be Cutty Sark’s home port.  

On its maiden voyage, the ship departed London on 15 February 1870, bound for Shanghai. 

On this outward voyage the ship carried a general cargo, including wine, spirits and beer and manufactured goods. After successfully reaching China on 31 May, the ship was loaded with 1,305,812 lbs of tea. After only 25 days in port in Shanghai the ship sped back to London, arriving on 13 October the same year. 

 

  'Cutty Sark' is an archaic Scottish name for a short nightdress. 'Cutty' means short or stumpy, and 'sark' means nightdress or shirt. 

Cutty Sark’s name comes from the famous poem Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burns. It is about a farmer called Tam who is chased by a scantily-clad witch called Nannie, dressed only in a ‘cutty sark’.

It is a rather peculiar choice of name for a ship however. According to legend – and indeed in Robert Burns’ poem – witches are unable to cross water!

The original owner of Cutty Sark, a man called Jock Willis, was the person who gave the ship its name, although it was allegedly suggested to him by the ship’s designer Hercules Linton.

Cutty Sark’s tea career was cut short by the Suez Canal.

Opened in the same week as Cutty Sark was launched, the canal cut the voyage out to China by over 3,000 miles. Instead of sailing all the way around the continent of Africa, ships could now simply sail through the Mediterranean Sea and the canal to reach the Indian Ocean.

 But it was not a practical option for sailing ships like Cutty Sark. There were challenging wind conditions in the Mediterranean and canal, and there were expensive tolls to contend with.

Instead, steamships could now take advantage of this ‘short cut’ to load greater amounts of tea and return to London at least ten days earlier than Cutty Sark could hope for. After just eight voyages, Cutty Sark was forced out of the trade for which it had been built. 

After abandoning the tea trade, Cutty Sark entered the Australian wool trade in 1883. The ship made it back to London at least 25 days before any of its competitors, marking the beginning of its most successful period.

 In the 1890s Cutty Sark began to make less money, as more steam ships moved into the wool trade. Eventually the ship was sold to a Portuguese firm and renamed Ferreira. It was used as a general cargo ship, transporting goods between Portugal and its empire.

 

 

When Portugal declared war on Germany, the ship had to contend with unrestricted submarine warfare. Despite surviving this unscathed, by the 1920s the ship was in poor condition and unlikely to survive much longer.

After suffering damage during bad weather, the ship experienced astonishing good luck. Brought to Falmouth for repairs, it was spotted and recognised by local retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman. Determined to save the ship and restore it to former glory, he offered to buy it for £3,500 – more than what the ship was worth even in 1895. 

 

 With the help and support of his wife Catharine, Wilfred Dowman attempted to restore Cutty Sark to its 1870 appearance. In 1924, they reopened the ship in their home town of Falmouth as a cadet training ship and visitor attraction. Its days as a cargo ship were over.

When Dowman died, Catharine gifted the ship to the Incorporated Thames Nautical College at Greenhithe, where it continued to be used as a cadet training ship until the end of the Second World War.

 In the post-war period, it was no longer needed as a training ship and fell into disrepair. The Cutty Sark Preservation Society was formed in order to secure its future.

In 1954 the ship was towed into a specially built dry dock in Greenwich.  Extensive restoration work followed, and Cutty Sark was finally reopened to the public in 1957.

 After more than 40 years as a museum ship, Cutty Sark was once again in need of extensive restoration. In 2006 a project to preserve its original fabric for the future began.

The following year however, a devastating fire ripped through all three decks of the ship. Thanks to an outpouring of public support and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the ship was once again saved, restored and reopened in 2012. 

 

Beneath the Cutty Sark is home to the Long John Silver Figurehead Collection, the world’s largest collection of the elaborate wooden carvings that decorate the bow of a ship.

“Long John Silver” was Sydney Cumbers (1875-1959). He lost sight in his left eye as a child in an accident with a toy gun, and took to wearing a distinctive eye patch (hence the nickname, a reference to the famous pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island). He was a successful businessman but had a passion for collecting maritime artifacts, building up a collection of maritime objects, including 101 figureheads. He donated this collection to the Cutty Sark in 1953 after the ship’s first restoration and opening to the public.

The collection consists of a wide range of figureheads, mostly dating from the 19th century, originating from different types of merchant vessels. The fact that these are mercantile figureheads means that it’s often very difficult to trace their history and origin. The history of a ship and its figurehead may have been lost when ships were broken up or fell into disuse, or the names of ships (and their figureheads) might have changed when they got new owners. Sometimes they are the only surviving object from a particular ship.

As we finished touring the museum and viewing all the artifacts we came across this last display which completed my undestanding as to why I had always associated the words Cutty Sark with the Scotch Whisky.

Slàinte Mhath! 🥂😉

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