Cutty Sark

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One of the most famous sailing ships ever built, Cutty Sark was one of the last clippers specifically built for the China tea trade between the 1840s and 1870s.

The Cutty Sark was commissioned by Captain John Willis, London England. Her hull was of composite construction using an iron frame with teak planking. John Willis's demands for only the best and most expensive building materials resulted in bankruptcy of the original builders, 'Scott, Linton & Co.' of Dumbarton Scotland, before the ship was even finished.

Once finished and into commission she never beat her rival, the clipper Thermopylae, on the passage home from China, partially through some tough luck. A greater threat to her viability came with the appearance of steamships which put the Cutty Sark and other clippers out of the tea trade altogether since they simply couldn't compete.

After a short stint at hauling coal, jute, hemp and anything else she could carry, she ended up in the wool trade between Sidney, Australia and England. She was sold to a Portuguese trader, J. A. Ferreira in 1895 and took on the name Ferreira. She was brought back to England in 1922 by Captain Wilfred Dowman to be restored and is currently on display as a museum ship at Greenwich.