Cutty Sark: Difference between revisions
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Aerial video footage @ 7:22am shows extensive damage but seems to indicate that whilst damage is extensive the ship as a whole has not been destroyed in its entirety |
Aerial video footage @ 7:22am shows extensive damage but seems to indicate that whilst damage is extensive the ship as a whole has not been destroyed in its entirety |
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Currently as the cause is unknown but the fire is being treated as suspicious by the authorities. |
Currently as the cause is unknown but the fire is being treated as suspicious by the authorities, one policeman commenting that he thought "blacks might have done it". |
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([http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6675381.stm BBC report]) |
([http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6675381.stm BBC report]) |
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Revision as of 06:27, 21 May 2007
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (May 2007) |
The Clyde-built Cutty Sark was, in 1869, one of the last sailing clippers to be built. She was preserved in dry dock at Greenwich in London, but burnt in a huge fire on May 21 2007.
History
The ship is named after the short shirt worn by the fleet-footed witch featured in the poem Tam o' Shanter written by Robert Burns. She was designed by Hercules Linton and built in 1869 at Dumbarton,Scotland, by the firm of Scott & Linton, for Captain John "Jock" "White Hat" Willis, and launched November 23 of that year.
Cutty Sark was destined for the tea trade, then an intensely competitive race across the globe from China to London, with immense profits to the ship to arrive with the first tea of the year. However, she did not distinguish herself; in the most famous race, against Thermopylae in 1872, both ships left Shanghai together on June 18, but two weeks later Cutty Sark lost her rudder after passing through the Sunda Strait, and arrived in London on October 18, a week after Thermopylae, a total passage of 122 days. Her legendary reputation is supported by the fact her captain chose to continue this race with an improvised rudder instead of putting into port for a replacement, yet was only beaten by one week.
In the end, clippers lost out to steamships, which could pass through the recently-opened Suez Canal and deliver goods more reliably, if not quite so quickly, which as it turned out was better for business. Cutty Sark was then used on the Australian wool trade. Under the respected Captain Richard Woodget, she did very well, posting Australia-to-England times of as little as 67 days. Her best run, 360 nautical miles (666 km) in 24 hours (an average 15kt, 27.75 km/h), was said to have been the fastest of any ship of her size.
In 1895 Willis sold her to the Portuguese firm Ferreira and she was renamed after the firm. In 1916 she was dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope, sold, re-rigged in Cape Town as a barquentine, and renamed Maria do Amparo. In 1922 she was bought by Captain Wilfred Dowman, who restored her to her original appearance and used her as a stationary training ship. In 1954 she was dry-docked at Greenwich.
Cutty Sark is also preserved in literature in Hart Crane's long poem "The Bridge" which was published in 1930.
Today
The Cutty Sark is today preserved as a museum ship and popular tourist attraction. She is located near the centre of Greenwich, in south-east London, close aboard the National Maritime Museum, the former Greenwich Hospital, and Greenwich Park. She is also a prominent landmark on the route of the London Marathon. She flies signal flags on her ensign staff reading "JKWS", which is the code representing Cutty Sark in the International Code of Signals, introduced in 1857.
Cutty Sark has inspired the name of a brand of whisky. An image of the ship appears on the label, and the maker has sponsored the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race. It also inspired the name of the Saunders Roe Cutty Sark flying boat. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck part three-and-a-half: The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark by Don Rosa features the ship itself.
Cutty Sark is a Grade I listed monument and is on the Buildings At Risk Register.
A major project to conserve the Cutty Sark has now begun, and is scheduled for completion early in 2009. The ship is to be raised three metres higher out of her dry dock, to allow the construction of a state of the art museum space beneath. For the first time visitors will be able to admire her sleek shape from below. Access to the ship and its environs is subject to the needs of the restoration, but can be checked here.
Saving the Cutty Sark 2006-2009
Cutty Sark is currently closed to the public until early 2009 for conservation work. She is no longer visible on the London skyline as work to conserve her has got underway. With her masts removed and her hull covered visitors can still learn about the ship's story in a new visitor centre until the ship is revealed in all her glory early in 2009.
During the conservation works a visitor centre will be open where visitors can learn how and why the ship is being saved. The exhibition features a new film presentation, a re-creation of the masters saloon and interactives about the project Also live webcam views of the conservation work allow the visitor to remotely see the works taking place on the ship.
The conservation work was due to finish in 2009.
For more information on the works see the Cutty Sark website (see External links).
Cutty Sark station on the Docklands Light Railway is one minute's walk away, with connections to central London and the London Underground. Greenwich Pier is next to the ship, and is served by scheduled river boats from piers in central London. A tourist information office stands to the east of the ship.
Fire
On 21st May the Cutty Sark caught fire and was reported by the BBC to be completely ablaze. The extent of any damage is not known but it is worried that it may have affected the framework of the ship. The fire was reported to the fire service at 04:46am by members of the public. A representative of the fire brigade said @ 7:09am that the fire was well under control and that damage was extensive but until the experts can view its unknown just how much has been lost. The fire was declared by a journalist on site to have been out 0721, with most of the wooden structure having been lost.
In an interview with the the chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust it was revealed that at least half of the "fabric" of the ship is not on the site due to it be dismantled for the preservation work and that they are most worried about the iron framework around which the "fabric (eg timbers etc) get attached.
Aerial video footage @ 7:22am shows extensive damage but seems to indicate that whilst damage is extensive the ship as a whole has not been destroyed in its entirety
Currently as the cause is unknown but the fire is being treated as suspicious by the authorities, one policeman commenting that he thought "blacks might have done it".
General specifications
- Tonnage: 921 tons (935.8 tonnes)
- Hull length: 212.5 ft (64.8 m)
- Beam: 36 ft (11 m)
- Draft: 21 ft (6.4 m)
Sails:
- Fore
- fore course 21.0 yd (19.2 m)
- lower topsail 16.8 yd (15.4 m)
- upper topsail 14.6 yd (13.4 m)
- topgallant 11.5 yd (10.5 m)
- royal 9.4 yd (8.6 m)
- Main
- main course 21.6 yd (19.8 m)
- lower topsail 18.5 yd (16.9 m)
- upper topsail 16.8 yd (15.4 m)
- topgallant 14.2 yd (13.0 m)
- royal 10.4 yd (9.5 m)
- Mizzen
- mizzen course 17.4 yd (15.9 m)
- lower topsail 14.9 yd (13.6 m)
- upper topsail 13.4 yd (12.3 m)
- topgallant 11.0 yd (10.1 m)
- royal 8.2 yd (7.5 m)
- spanker 14.1 yd (12.9 m)
Trivia
A student magazine at the University of Greenwich is called the Sarky Cutt.
The Cutty Sark is mentioned in the Dire Straits song 'Single Handed Sailor'.
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2006) |
See also
External links
