I heard it had a fire today. I hope the damage is not as bad as they expect. I mention this as this beautiful vessel is a one of a kind, last surviving example of a tea clipper, And the fastest. When we here about a steam locomotive being scrapped it affects us the same way.
(http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070521/capt.lon80205210737.britain_cutty_sark_lon802.jpg?)
When I was 11 yrs old, my parents bought me the Cutty Sark 1:96 model from Revell. I fell in love with the ship and it took me only 6 months to build.
During that time I actually had 2 hobbies, trains and Revell's ships.
I built most of the series over the years and even built some "for order", and still own the Thermopylae, (Cutty Sark's chief rival), and the Constitution.
The latest news reports I've seen and read has said the ship's hull is "a smoking hulk, but will be rebuilt". (from Good Morning America, ABC News)
I really hope so as this was the only survivor of tea clippers that were the fastest sailing vessels built, even faster than the American clippers.
Actually Donald McCay's clippers Flying Cloud and Sovereign of the Seas were the fastest clipper ships.
I too built the Revell Cutty Sark several times and I agree she was one of the best looking clippers. The news today says they are planning to continue with the restoration.
I too have built the big Cutty Sark as well as the Constitution. I finished the connie about 3 months ago and gave it to a close friend for his office. Both are beautiful models when completed. Hellers Soliel Royale and Victory, both 1/100 kits are phenomenal models as well. I lived near Boston so I have visited the Connie several times. When I was in the navy, I was sent to school in Boston and was stationed in the same barracks as the crew for the Connie. I also have seen the Victory as our ship docked right next to its drydock.
If you look at what is burning, it's mostly the timber cover that protected the deck and workers from that God awful English weather
According to reports I heard on NPR almost all of the most valuable stuff on board, all the masts, spars, and rigging were off for the reconstruction. The damage looks awful, but not as bad as it looks.
I believe that Modelerbob is coorect about both Flying Cloud and Soverign of the Seas
Gene
I've been on the Cutty Sark a number of times (former in-laws live in London) so I got down to Greenwich once a year or so. Aside from the ship itself - which is a beautiful example of a tea clipper, she had an extensive collection of figure heads aboard, as well as a nicely stocked gift shop. As a museum, she was in pristine condition and it is extremely saddening to see the picture showing what looks like the whole ship ablaze. I hope all that stuff inside was saved, and that most of the hull and decking weren't too badly damaged. No doubt there's a considerable amount of work ahead in the restoration.
On a repair of that nature, they would have removed all masts and rigging. The deck would have nothing on it while they reconditioned the vessel. In 1997 they restored the USS constellation and had her stripped bare, even her hull timbers were removed as they worked to restore the skeleton of the ship. Some of the pictures on the web of the Cutty Sark show many of her hull timbers removed so that her iron frame could get fixed
(http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070521/i/r4232093492.jpg?)
Upon further checking Donald McCay's "Lightening" was probably the fastest Clipper. It would depend on how you calculate "fastest". I think the determination was made based on best 24 hour run logged.
and this from the web: http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cfm (http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cfm)
On 16th February 1870, the 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 goodsâ€, is listed in The North China Herald of 2nd June 1870. Departing with around 1,450 tons of tea on 25th June, she arrived back in London on 13th October 1870.
This is the first of 8 voyages the ship successfully made to China in pursuit of tea. However, the 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 the Thermopylae head-to-head for the first time.
After arriving at Shanghai in late May 1872, she met the Thermopylae when loading her tea cargo. With both sailing from Woosung on 17th June 1872, the two ships closely matched each other through the China Sea and into the Indian Ocean. By 7th August, and with a good tail wind, the Cutty Sark found herself a good 400 miles ahead of the Thermopylae. On 15th August, disaster struck when the Cutty Sark’s rudder gives way. After reconstructing the rudder twice in heavy seas, the ship arrived back at London on 19th October, around 7 days after her rival. The courage and determination of Captain Moodie and his crew won the Cutty Sark great credit, but Moodie retired from his command of the ship due to stress and the ship was never to get this close to winning the tea race again.
Why Cutty Sark Matters
•She is the most famous ship in the world
•She is the epitome of the great age of sail
•She is the only surviving extreme clipper, and the only tea clipper still in existence.
•Most of her hull fabric survives from her original construction and she is the best example of a merchant composite construction vessel.
•She has captured the imagination of millions of people, 15 million of whom have come on board to learn the stories she has to tell.
•She was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.
•She is one of the great sights of London.
PDLETHBRIDGE - Thanks for the info on the Cutty Sark. Although it is tragic news, I think that the preservation volunteers will be successful in their efforts to repair her. I've been on her a number of times as she holds some family history. It would be a shame if she could not be visited again. I remember remarking that even after all this time, you could still smell tea in her holds. I suppose now it would be wood smoke! How extremely sad.
Is there some possibility that the ship is famous because some Scots distillery didn't decide to name his new blend "Soverign of the the Seas"? ;D
P.S. - I'm not sure Cutty Sark is the most famous ship in the world. How about Titanic?
Gene
another good link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark)
Most Famous Ship?
What about:
Mayflower, Santa Maria, Arizona, Bismark, Monitor, Merrimack, Charles W Morgan, Titanic? just to name a few.
Fastest, lets not go there, That will end up like the fastest steam loco thread.
Let's just hope they can fix this great piece of history.
Sheldon
Don't forget Noah's Ark.
Sure Gene, Sheldon & Terry. And how many of THOSE ships have been on public display recently?
John,
The Charles W Morgan, last surviving wooden whaler, is on display at Mystic, Connecticut, USA.
A reasonably accurate replica of the Mayflower is on display, I believe at Plymouth, Mass., USA.
Several I did not mention before:
The USS Constitution, last surviving American Revolotionary war ship on display in Boston, Mass. USA.
The USS Constellation, last remaining navel vessel from the Amercian Civil War, on display at Baltimore, MD. USA.
The WWII aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, on display at Charlston South Carolina, USA.
The WWII battleship USS Massachusetts on display in, of all places, Massachusetts, USA.
The Cutty Sark is important, and her saving is important, but we need not talk like she is the only ship of historical importance to the world.
Sheldon
Let's not forget the Star of India either. She still sails!!!
No she's probably not the most famous ship In the world but she's the only one on fire at the moment and the thread was started to show concern for her safety ya bozo's >:(
AND AGAIN,
In my first post I expressed the importance of fixing and saving her.
GN.2-6-8-0, the name calling is completely out of line.
Sheldon
The Merrimac wasn't famous. The Virginia is.
BTW, a replica of the Monitor is on display at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
Gene
The Merrimac is famous. In grade school we learned about the Monitor and the Merrimac. Never heard of the Virginia in school.
We're all bozos on this bus.
I guess it might be famous depending on which side of the Mason Dixon line you lived.
The USS Merrimac was a steam frigate that the damnyankees burned when they fled from Norfolk Naval Base. The CSS Virginia essentially destroyed the Hampton Roads blockade fleet and then fought the USS Monitor to a draw.
Gene
Gene,
I knew it was called the CSS Virginia, but you know how the victors teach that revisonist history. It's bad enough explaining "war between the states" vs "Civil War".
It's so far in the past now, those of us who know or care are small minority. Another sign of the decline in our culture, little interest in how we got here.
Sheldon
Which is why another famous battle should be called the "Battle of the Greasy Grass." ;D
What two names is this known by?
Gene
Let's see, that would be June 25/26, 1876 commonly known to most as Custer's Last Stand or the Battle of Little Bighorn.
I did have to look up the exact date though.
Sheldon
And a "Garry Owen" to you, Sheldon. I hope to see the battlefield in October.
Gene
I thought Garyowen was one word. I love that song.
I do wish that people would really read what others write. ???
I never said the Cutty Sark was the fastest clipper. It wasn't. But the Tea Clippers AS A WHOLE were faster than any other sailing vessel for the distances covered. The Tea Clippers day was in the years after the war. They were wider and longer, and their cargo capacity was greater. After the tea trade went to the steamers, Australian wool became the "cargo of choice" for the clippers and many a race took place between the ships in this trade. If anything the Wool trade was more cutthroat than the tea trade. The American clippers heyday was prior the 'Great Dissagreement Between the States'.The American Clippers time was only about 15yrs, if that long, while many of the tea/wool clippers worked for 30-40 yrs after the tea trade.
Atlantic Central;
The USS Constitution was not a revolutionary war ship. It was built after the war and served against the Barbary Pirates, in the minor war with France in 1803 and in the War of 1812, where it won great distinction. The British Parliment considered during the war to brand the American Navy Frigates as pirates as the British Admiralty considered the American design as "unsporting". :o
The American frigates, built to a 44-60 gun configuration, were built longer and wider than the typical British and French Frigates of the time, (38-44 guns), which provided a more stable gun platform than the typical British design. The British thought this was "unsporting" because the British ship of the line classes started with a 64 gun minimum and they considered it piracy that the American "frigates" carried almost as many guns as their nominal ship of the line. It wasn't "sporting" for a frigate to fight a ship of the line, "as true gentlemen didn't fight wars that way". ;D The American frigates also carried more carronades, (the really big guns, 24-40 lb or more size shot), than the British frigates.
By the way, if you refer to the CSS Virginia by her earlier name, don't forget the "K" in USS Merrimack.
Merrimack: A river formed by the junction of Permigewasset and Winnipesaukee Rivers at Franklin, N.H., flowing across northeastern Massachusetts before emptying in the Atlantic at Newburyport, Mass.
Merrimac: A variant spelling for the Merrimack river.
Even during her original USN service, USS Merrimack was misspelled, and to this day scholars who should know better still drop that final "K". And it doesn't help matters when the Union ALSO had a sidewheeler USS Merrimac during the Civil War!
At least we don't have any confusion on the spelling of "Virginia", right? ;)
CJ and dto,
Just turned 50 the other day and the memory is the first thing to go, Thank you both for filling the details.
The Constellation here in Baltimore was long thought to be the sister ship of the Constitution, but research has proven that not so. She was "replaced" under the guise of "repairs" by the Navy since the Congress was not allowing any new ships to be constructed.
The British missed the point, the only thing that matters in war is winning.
Terry,
My recolection is that both ways are correct.
Sheldon
Two words. I had a war time mission as artillery liaison officer to 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry when I was in Korea. When the squadron left their compounds they played "Gary Owen" on the loud speakers. The regimental crest has it in two words.
It has a nice lilt to it, but is hard to sing.
Gene
I see Sheldon is correct.
The original song was Garryowen. When the 7th adopted it, they split it into two words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garryowen
My grandfather was in Company I of the NY Fighting 69th in WWI. When it was sent over seas it became the 165th Infantry Battalion of the 42nd "Rainbow" division.
He knew several versons of "Garyowen" including one with bawdy lyrics. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was too young to learn the words. He also used to sing "Madamoiselle from Armentieres"- again with bawdy lyrics.
Several years in a row I had the honor of marching with my grandfathrer with 69th vets in the Saint Patrick's Day parade behind the regimental band playing: "Garyowen."
Woody, I think that would have been 165th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division. WWI divisions didn't have any independent infantry battalions.
I'm sure you will remember him this weekend.
Gene
the cutty is a specal vessal my grandfather and i built it out of balsa wood from scratch. i was 8 and that was the first model i had ever built besides a kit box car. that was 22 years ago. grandfather made 99% of the super structure he showed me how to tie the riging and sails. i still have that ship
and when to see it twice once with him and once with my wife and son.
Tom
Sheldon, Sorry for the late response - I've been otherwise employed lately. I agree that the Cutty Sark isn't the ONLY famous ship out there - you don't even have to leave that Island to encounter others. HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, Mary Rose (all in Portsmouth) - Admiral Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, first ironclad (British) warship & Henry VIII's flagship. I'm sure that there are even more as we move further afield. The fact is, though that it is a tragic event, and hopefully the ship will be restored to its original state.
Cheers!
John