Kit

Cutty Sark

Brand AOSHIMA

SKU A-04110 EAN 4905083041109

Features

Nation: United Kingdom

Period: 1800

Scale: 1/350

Type: Ships

Price 31,50 €

Description

1/350 Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark is a Scottish clipper with a tonnage of 963 tons, launched on November 22, 1869 at Scott & Linton Shipyards in Dumbarton, Scotland. She sailed the Indies route for the tea and wool trade.
She owes her name ("Cutty Sark" means "smock, petticoat" in the Scottish language) to the figurehead that adorns her prow and depicts the semi-dressed witch Nannie, a character from the poem Tam O'Shanter by Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Clippers, especially those built in the second half of the 19th century, were perhaps the most beautiful ships ever built and represented the pinnacle of maritime engineering in the "golden age of sails." The best known of them is undoubtedly "Cutty Sark." This sailing ship was built in 1869 at the special request of the famous Scottish shipowner, Captain John Willis, at the Clyde shipyard. The premise of the project was to build a ship capable of defeating the then fastest clipper "Thermopylae," launched only a year earlier. The latest technology and materials of the highest quality were used to achieve the goal. Paradoxically, it was the cost of materials and highly skilled labor that drove the original contractor out of business and the construction had to be completed by another nearby shipyard. When the operation was finally successfully completed, it resulted in the fastest ship at the time, which reached a speed of more than 17 knots thanks to its huge sail area. Of course, such an exaggerated performance was not only intended for propaganda purposes, but also to be used in practice. Cutty Sark's task was to transport tea from China to Britain. Time played an important role here because the faster the fresh crop was delivered to the London market, the higher the price. Each year the voyage from China was a real race and at the same time a torment for the crew, urged mercilessly by the captain, who, hoping to reward money and prestige, tried once again to break the speed record. The good times for clippers ended at the end of the 19th century, when they could no longer cope with competition from modern steam ships. The Cutty Sark met the fate of many other tall ships. In 1895 she was sold to a Portuguese company, where she served for many years as a tramp, and then as a barge without sails. In June 1922, a retired sea dog, Captain Dowman, bought the dilapidated ship and towed it to England. There, after many years of work, the Cutty Sark was restored to her former glory, mainly by installing new sails, although conforming to the originals, and in 1938 the Thames Nautical Training College in Greenhithe was presented with her as a training ship. In 1952 an association was founded to work for the Cutty Sark, and it was on its initiative that five years later the legendary sailing ship finally ended her colorful career and anchored permanently at Greenwich Pier. Technical data: Displacement: 2,100 t, length: 85.1 m, breadth: 10.9 m, draft: 6 m, speed: up to 17.5 knots, crew: 28-35 people.