The fastest tea clipper

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

In the nineteenth century, the delivery of valuable goods to England was carried out with the help of huge sailboats. While transporting seasonal goods home, the crews of the ships competed with each other in speed. Such competitions went down in history as tea races on clippers. The crews of the ships tried to be the first to arrive at their destination. For many, the phrase "tea clipper" is associated with a fast vessel.

Why are the sailboats so named?

In the nineteenth century, merchants made a considerable profit from the trade in tea, which was transported from China to England. The property of this product to dampen and absorb all the smells of the hold forced the merchants to abandon the use of old ships, the transportation of which could last almost a year. The time-consuming transportation had a negative effect on the quality of the product. Since it was tea that was the most common commodity that sailboat crews tried to deliver to the place as soon as possible, the carrier ships were called tea clippers. The fastest ships were originally equipped with sails. Translated from English, clipper is a ship with developed sailing weapons. Over time, these ships began to be equipped with steam engines, but behind themthe name "tea clipper" stuck.

History

Initially tea clippers (the fastest sailing ships) were built in B altimore. Their purpose was the transportation of slaves and contraband. Unlike its predecessors, the ship was equipped with sails that differed, compared to conventional sailing ships, in much larger sizes. In addition, the hull of the new sailboat was characterized by sharp contours and increased stability. Reduced volume of holds and increased speed are the distinguishing features that tea clippers possessed.

The fastest ships turned out to be very expensive. To build one such sailboat or charter it required a lot of financial investment. But due to the high speed that each tea clipper possessed (a photo of the ships is presented in the article), all invested funds were fully paid off in one flight.

This was possible due to the very popular races at the time. Very large sums were often wagered between shipowners. The crew of the boat that arrived first received several times more money than the crews that arrived second or third. Thus, financial reward was a good incentive for each team. Merchants, on the other hand, received goods with their original aroma.

Sailing armament of the B altimore ships

B altimore ships were the very first schooners and brigantines, on the basis of which tea clippers were created. The fastest sailing ships began to be built in America. The developers equipped the ships with very large sails, masts inclined towards the stern. Sailing armament consisted of split topsails and watersails, which made it easier to control the ship, as well as foxes, due to which their windage increased significantly.

Golden age of tea clippers

Fast sailing ships began to be built in 1820. Over several decades, they have evolved intensively. The golden age for tea clippers came in the period 1850-1860. During this time, many high-speed sailboats were created. By the end of the nineteenth century, the famous era was over. They were replaced by ships equipped with steam engines.

Speed

Tea clippers (the fastest ships) were created using a ratio of length and width: 6 to 1, while 3 (4) to 1 was considered acceptable for ordinary sailboats. Due to these design innovations, the hulls of the ships were given a high streamline allowing them to easily cut through the waves. As a result, fifteen knots is the optimum speed for tea clippers, the fastest sailing ships. Some of them had a speed of almost seventeen knots (one knot equals one nautical mile per hour, i.e. 1852 meters).

Who used sailboats?

Having high speed, the tea clipper was used by private sailors, filibusters, smugglers, merchants, slave transporters and the Coast Guard. Some used fast boats to get away from the chase, others for the purpose of pursuit. Over time, each had its own tea clippermaritime state.

Ship Thermopylae

Many researchers believe that in the entire sailing era it was the best and fastest ship. The tea clipper was custom built by White Star Line. The project was developed by London-based engineer Bernard Weymouth.

This company specialized in cruise routes. The company's employees once created the legendary Titanic. The company's symbol is a white star on a red background. This symbol was located on the Thermopylae pennant, which was launched in 1868 near the city of Aberdeen (Scotland). The clipper got its name in honor of the Thermopylae gorge, in which the bloody battle of the Greeks with the Persians took place in 480 BC.

Everyone present at the launch of the tea clipper was very impressed by the new sailboat: its hull had ideal proportions, dark green sides and beautiful white masts.

Thanks to its excellent seaworthiness, in two years this clipper managed to break the record previously set by the American ship "James Baines": within 63 days she covered the distance from London to Melbourne. For sailboats, this result remains the best to this day.

Sailboat specifications

According to the memoirs of the English historian Basil Labok, Thermopylae had an amazing ability to capture even the smallest wind currents. As a result, it was possible to walk calmly on the deck with a lit candle, andthe ship continued at seven knots.

• The tea clipper was almost 65 meters long.
• It was 11 meters wide.
• The sailboat had a draft of six and a half meters.
• Capacity: 948 reg.t.
• Below deck ratio: 0.58.
• The capacity of the holds was 11 tons.

What races did the ship take part in?

In 1872, Thermopylae's rival was the tea clipper Cutty Sark. Competition route: Shanghai - London. The victory in these races was won by Thermopylae. A broken rudder at the Cutty Sark delayed that clipper by one week. Ten years later, the two ships met again on their way to Australia. In these races, Cutty Sark managed to take revenge.

Thermopylae set two records that no other tea clipper has ever broken: the distance from Melbourne to Shanghai was covered by a vessel in almost one month, and the distance between Shanghai and London was covered by a clipper in three months.

In 1887 the British bought Thermopylae. For the last ten years it has been used as a training ship. By 1907, her hull was so worn out that it was decided to decommission and sink the ship. Soon Thermopylae was torpedoed. In 2003, the remains of the ship were found in the waters near Lisbon.

The last tea clipper

The Cutty Sark is the latest fast sailing ship known worldwide for its high seaworthiness. Created in 1869, this ship has survived to this day. This tea clipper, like any ship, hasmy history. It was built by order of the British shipowner John Willis. Despite the fact that sailing ships were gradually being replaced by steamboats, John Willis wanted to be the owner of the fastest sailing ship. The main task of the ship was to quickly transport tea from China to England. Employees of the Scott and Linton company worked on the order under the guidance of shipbuilder Hercules Linton. The new ship, unlike other high-speed sailboats, was equipped with a high powerful stern. This constructive solution during the storm was appreciated by the crew of the ship. Not having completed the assembly of the hull of the future tea clipper, in 1869 the company "Cattle and Linton" went bankrupt. Another company took up the construction of the sailboat, using the drawings of Hercules Linton.

By its design, this clipper belongs to the type of composite ships: it consists of an iron set covered with wooden sheathing. At the same time, the workers used teak to sheath that part of the clipper that is above the waterline. The part of the ship under the waterline is made of Thomas elm (a breed of elm). Brass plates were used to equip the bottom.

The vessel had the following specifications:

• Cutty Sark was 85.4 meters long.
• Width - 11.2 m.
• The length of the main mast was over 46 m.
• The total area of the ship was 2985 sq.m.
• Displacement 2130 tons.
• The sailing ship has three masts.

The ship's hull was painted black, on whichtwo golden lines looked especially beautiful. Golden bay leaves were used as decorations.

The Star of India was depicted on the case. Nearby, in the form of a circle, there was an inscription that read: "Heavenly light will show us the way." Also, the hull was decorated with the letter "W", from which the sun's rays emanated - a kind of sign of the shipowner.

By the fall of 1869, the ship was ready to sail. In November it was launched on the River Clyde.

Origin of the sailboat's name

The tea clipper got a name that was considered very strange at the time. Initially, John Willis wanted to name his ship "Sea Witch". But since this name was already used by another ship, the shipowner decided to name his sailboat after the heroine of Robert Burns's poem "Tam O'Shanter". From the Scottish Cutty Sark is translated as "short shirt". It was the “Nan-short-shirt” that was called the witch, who in Scotland was often frightened by small children. Unlike the shipowner, the sailors, having heard the future name of the clipper, were not delighted. This is explained by the superstitions inherent in their environment. Sailors often did not go sailing on Friday, they were afraid of the black cat and the number "13". They also believed that such a name of the vessel would entail the death of the ship and its crew. Many sailors asked the shipowner to change the name of the tea clipper, but John Willis was sure that his ship would have a long and happy fate.

The figure of this witch became the decoration of the bow of the tea clipper. In a poem to the shipownerI especially liked the moment when the young witch, in pursuit of Tom, grabbed the horse by the tail. John Willis decided to depict this episode as a figure for the bow of his sailboat. The ordered figure is a witch holding a ponytail bun in her outstretched hand.

Throughout its history, the sailboat has often been caught in a storm, causing the witch to repeatedly lose her head and outstretched arm. The elements of the figure lost in the sea had to be restored each time. The new heads and arms of Nen-short-shirt looked no less spectacular.

What made the sailboat famous?

In 1872, during a competition with the legendary sailing ship Thermopylae in the Cutty Sark, a breakdown occurred. As a result of the storm that overtook the ship, the rudder was lost. The captain had to keep the ship downwind using a floating anchor. At the same time, the workers, right on the deck, were engaged in the manufacture of a spare rudder. A small forge in a makeshift forge on deck was overturned by a gust of strong wind. The captain's son, who was inflating the bellows at that time, almost got burned from hot coals. The storm did not stop for eight days, which significantly slowed down the process of making the rudder. The blacksmith Henry Henderson supervised the work. Later, his name will go down in the history of British navigation.

A broken rudder caused Cutty Sark to lose. Despite the fact that this tea clipper arrived a week after the Thermopylae, it is remembered for the stamina of the captain, who decided not to leave the race,and repaired right on the high seas. With the help of a makeshift rudder, the crew managed to continue the race and enter the history of English navigation.

Further fate of the high-speed vessel

Over time, swimming to China for tea became unprofitable. Due to the lack of textile production in England, ships began to be used to transport wool from Australia. The clippers were constantly caught in the storm. Despite the fact that in one of these voyages on the Cutty Sark all the masts were damaged, the history of the clipper did not end there.

In 1895, Cutty Sark was bought by the Portuguese company Ferreira. Then the sailboat was repeatedly resold and re-equipped, as a result of which its ship's sailing equipment was replaced by a simpler sailing one (barquentine). In 1922, the Cutty Sark was purchased by Captain Wilfred Doman. The clipper was returned to its original equipment, and she herself was used as a stationary training vessel. Today, the ship is a ship's museum, and the dry dock in Greenwich (England) has become its haven.

Conclusion

The tea clipper "Cutty Sark", despite all the fears of superstitious sailors, turned out to be the happiest and most successful ship. He does not rest somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, but is an adornment of the London Embankment. Everyone can appreciate the splendor of the latest tea clipper.