Conservation Plan 3 Significance.pdf - National Maritime Museum

Cutty Sark Conservation Plan vol. 3: Significance
Trading under
Portuguese Flag
1895 — 1922
16 of 107
In 1883 she became a wool clipper, transporting wool from Australia to
the UK. In her very first voyage in this role, she made the passage from
Newcastle NSW to London in 83 days, the best passage of the year and
beating every other ship by 25 days or more.
Because of her speed, she was often used as the ‘last chance’ for wool
sales, kept in reserve in Sydney or Melbourne until the last minute.
Improvements in the carrying capacity and economical running of
steamships began to threaten the sailing ships, with their relatively small
holds in this trade. Although Cutty Sark was not losing money in 1895,
she was certainly less profitable and that year Willis sold her to Messrs.
Ferreira of Lisbon for £2,100.
Comparatively little is known about the ship during the period 1895-
1914. Renamed Ferreira, she carried miscellaneous cargoes between
Lisbon, Brazil, Portuguese East Africa and New Orleans.
Her officers were aware of her previous history — for example, in Table
Bay in 1916, they are known to have acted as tour guides around her.
Indeed, despite the renaming, she was known to her crews as ‘El
Pequina Camisola’, the closest Portuguese comes to ‘cutty sark’.
In 1914, a visit to Liverpool created a revival of British interest in her,
and again in London in 1919, she was sufficiently well-remembered for
enthusiasts, journalists and photographers to crawl over her decks.
Put up for sale in 1921, a group of UK admirers made an unsuccessful
bid.