The only surviving tea clipper – Cutty Sark – celebrates. The famous ship 150 years!
And the celebrations will last the whole year, since the construction of the “Cutty Sark” began in February 1869, and in his first trip to China for tea – the ship went exactly a year later, in February of 1870.
And now for a whole year will be a variety of activities – for example, the first of the planned gigs will take place in a couple of weeks. In addition, every day on Board the famous clipper, which has become a Museum ship is in dry dock in the historic district of London – Greenwich, will be held theatrical performances.
Well, congratulations to the Cutty Sark even with day and year of birth and use a significant date to remind you some facts to our readers. First, the characteristics of the vessel:
– Displacement: 2133,779 tons with a draft of 6.1 m;
– Overall length: 85,4 m;
– Body length: 64,8 m;
Width: 11 m;
– Draft: 6.7 m;
– The height of the mainmast from main deck to top: 46.3 m;
– Total sail area: 2980 sq. m;
– 3 masts.
There are several versions of why the clipper got its name. In the most common of them is the captain of the ship John Willis (let’s use the article in “Wikipedia”) “going to call the clipper “Sea witch” (Sea Witch), but it turned out that this name is already registered another ship. And then he chose the name Cutty-Sark is the nickname of the young and attractive witch heroine of a poem by Robert burns ‘ Tam O’shanter. In the story, the witch is chasing Tom and at the last moment grabs his horse’s tail. No wonder nose shape clipper portrays a witch in a short shirt, stretched a hand forward, squeezed it with a bundle of horsehair.
Many people believe that the “Cutty Sark” was the fastest clipper. But more to the point – one of the fastest, most especially that any victory in the competition with other clippers on account of Cutty Sark no.
Fame (again, use the “Wikipedia”) the ship “brought race competition with the clipper “Thermopylae” in 1872. Both clipper is simultaneously released from Shanghai on June 18, but two weeks later the “Cutty Sark” in the storm lost the wheel and captain Moody kept the clipper in the wind during a storm with the sea anchor while on Board hade a spare wheel. The work lasted for eight days, as the violent storm continued. Ship’s carpenter has collected the boards, put it in brackets, which itself was forged. The forge broke on the deck, on which walked the waves. Once tipped horn, and son of the captain, who blew the bellows, barely managed to leap aside, dodging burning embers. The next day, the blacksmith was almost off the head of a red-hot iron bar. As a result, the “Cutty Sark” arrived in London a week later “Thermopylae” — October 18, spending on journey, of 122 days. Nevertheless, clipper has gone down in history due to the fact that after the accident the captain did not give up and decided to continue the race, erecting a makeshift rudder in the open sea (instead of having to go the distance for repairs to the port) and fell behind for just one week.”
In the fate of the “Cutty Sark” there were many such dramatic moments, but in the end the fate of this was a happy – not the ship was lost at sea, was not dismantled. In 1954 he was put on eternal Parking in the dry dock in Greenwich.
But that’s not all. In 2007, on Board the Cutty Sark fire motor industrial vacuum cleaner caused a fire that destroyed more than 80 percent of all the wood sheathing and deck slabs. Restoration of the ship took five years and demanded £ 50 million.
Will be in London – take time to go to Greenwich. Congratulate the 150-year-old legend on the anniversary!
cutty
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