Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark was one of the last clippers built for the China tea trade between the 1840s and 1870s. It was ordered by Captain John Willis of London and was launched on the afternoon of Monday 22nd November 1869 at Dumbarton on the Scottish Clyde.

This magnificient tea-clipper was the fastest of her time.

In 1895, she was no longer making money and was unceremoniously sold off to the Portuguese.

She was purchased in 1922 by Captain Wilfred Dowman at Falmouth Harbour after undergoing repairs at Greenhithe. The ship was on its way back to Portugal but storms prevented this from happening.

After Capt. Dowman's death in 1938, his widow presented the newly restored clipper to the Thames Nautical Training College at Greenhithe.

She was moored off Greenwich in 1951 for the festival of Britain and moved into a specially constructed dry dock at Greenwich in 1954. She has been open to the public since 1957.

The term Cutty Sark is Scottish for a short petticoat and comes from the Robert Burns poem "Tam O'Shanter," in which Tam secretly spies on the witch, Nannie, who is clad in a cutty sark. Why the name was chosen for the ship remains a mystery.

Information

The Cutty Sark is currently closed for restoration work.

Clipper Ship Cutty Sark
King William Walk
Greenwich London SE10 9HT
T. 0208 858 3445