Constructed on the
Clyde
in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line,
Cutty Sark
was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest.
spent just a few years on the tea routes before the opening of the Suez Canal and the increasing use of steamships made clippers unprofitable on shorter routes. She was turned to the trade in wool from Australia, where for ten years she held the record time for a journey to Britain.
As steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia, the ship was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895, and renamed
Ferreira
. She continued as a cargo ship until she was sold as a training and cadet ship, a role in which she continued until 1954 when she was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London, for public display.
The handy pocket manual collates original documents to tell the fascinating story of how the legendary
was commissioned, her design and building, life on board, and her notable journeys.