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The period of the clipper ships is one filled with fast-paced change and romance. The name clipper comes from the term to clip, or go at a fast pace. One of the most famous and lasting of these ships was the Cutty Sark, whose name also appears on a brand of scotch whiskey. But where did the name 'Cutty Sark' originate? There is an old Scottish tale about one Tam O'Shanter who happened on some witches dancing. Tam hid himself and watched. One of them was a comely witch and at the end of her dance he stood and remarked "Weel done cutty sark." The witch was wearing a short chemise called a cutty sark in Scottish. Realizing that she had been seen, she gave chase. Tam climbed on his horse and headed as fast as he could for water where he knew that Scottish witches could not follow. As he started across, the witch grabbed a hank of the horses tail while Tam barely escaped with his life. The Cutty Sark's figurehead is a representation of this witch holding a hank of hair in an outstretched hand.
The "Cutty Sark" was built for Jock Willis and launched in November of 1869. She was 212.5 feet long and had steel ribs, unlike the oak used for most clippers. Clippers had no fixed ballast and lacked the deep keel which we associate with sailing vessels. In fact, if one looks at a model it is amazing that clippers could ride upright considering the huge amounts of sail they carried. They were ballasted with rocks as needed just before loading. She could carry 1.3 million pounds of tea and her sails generated 3000 HP. She was built late in the clipper era, which began around 1840. She, like other clippers, was built specifically for the tea trade, the freshest tea being the most valuable. Many of these ships also saw service during the California Gold Rush of 1849.
Clippers enjoyed a perfect monopoly since steamships were limited in the distance they could go for lack of fuel capacity. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 quickly ended the clipper's monopoly on China tea in spite of the fact that connoisseurs felt that tea shipped in iron ships was inferior.
Wages on clippers were very poor. Often incompetent crewmen were conscripted against their will, shanghaied in fact, and found themselves sobering up aboard a clipper. Sometimes even straw dummies were conscripted, brought on board and the captain fooled by a rat tucked in a sleeve that would make the dummy appear to be a man asleep, twitching from time to time.
Until the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, clippers were required to round Cape Horn to get from China to Eastern US. The area is well known as one of the most dangerous passageways on earth with willawaws (gusty winds) unpredictably hitting with velocities in excess of 100 mph. Crewmembers were often required to climb the rigging in these conditions and many were lost overboard. Several clipper paintings depict this.
Cutty Sark lived a short life in tea trade and soon became a tramp. For many years she picked up whatever cargo she could, even stooping so low as to deliver dusty, dirty coal. Her masters were often cruel and incompetent. One, Captain Wallace climbed to the taffrail and dropped over the side after a particularly bad trip in which one of his crewmembers was killed. The crew dropped a boat but saw two shark fins in the water and the captain was never recovered.
The next captain proved to be a drunk and incompetent. He starved the crew, was responsible for several deaths and allowed the ship to deteriorate severely, her sails torn, windlass rusted and rigging frayed.
The next, Capt. Moore, had Cutty Sark for only two years but it was her turning point. She turned in an astounding 82 day run from Australia to London, 25 days faster than her competitors. Thus began her wooling days. Moore even bested his own 82 days once with an 80 day run.
In 1885 the owner, Jock Willis placed Capt. Woodget in command and Cutty Sark’s fortunes improved even more. Woodget was a perfectionist known to climb the rigging beside his mates. His men would do anything for him in any sea conditions. The Capt. redesigned the rig to be shorter but if anything, this improved her performance. She turned in several days with over 400 miles logged, which works out to be about 17 knots. Since steamers still couldn't carry sufficient fuel, the way was clear for clippers to carry wool from Australia. For nine years under Capt. Woodget she and he had the best years of their lives. The Capt. also became an aficionado of photography and to him we owe many portraits of Cutty Sark.
For many years she again she fell on bad times but in 1952 the Cutty Sark Preservation Society was formed and she was restored to her former glory and now resides in Greenwich, England, likely the only surviving clipper ship.
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