One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty
Sark, can still be seen at Greewich. She stands on dry land and is visited by
thousands of people each year. She serves as an impressive reminder of the
great ships of past. Before they were replaced by steamships, sailing vessels
like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia.
The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built.
The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae. Both these ships set out
from Shanghai on June 18th, 1872 on an exciting race to England. This race,
which went on for exactly four months, was the last of its kind. It marked the
end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era.#
The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the
Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead. It seemed
certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a
lot of bad luck. In August, she was struck by a very heavy storm during which
her rudder was torn away. The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it
became impossible to steer her. A temporary rudder was made on board from
spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty. This greatly reduced the
speed of the ship, for there was a danger that if she traveled too quickly,
this rudder would be torn away as well. Because of this, the Cutty Sark lost
her lead. After crossing the Equator, the captain called in at a port to have
a new rudder fitted, but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles
ahead. Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed, it was impossible
for the Cutty Sark to win. She arrived in England a week after the
Thermopylae. Even this was remarkable, considering that she had had so many
delays. There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have
won the race easily.&