What is the Cutty Sark?
The Cutty Sark is a historic British clipper ship, launched in 1869 and now preserved as a museum ship in Greenwich, London. It was one of the fastest sailing ships of its time, built to carry tea from China.
The ship was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, for the tea trade. Clippers raced to bring the new season's tea from China to London as quickly as possible.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, steamships took over the tea trade. The Cutty Sark then carried wool from Australia, setting fast times on the route.
Name and restoration
The name Cutty Sark comes from the poem Tam o' Shanter by Robert Burns, in which a witch wears a short shirt, or cutty sark in Scots.
The ship has been in dry dock in Greenwich since 1954. In 2007, it was badly damaged by fire during restoration, but it was repaired and reopened in 2012.
Visitors can walk beneath the hull, which is raised above the ground, and explore the decks and cabins. The Cutty Sark is the last surviving tea clipper in the world and a symbol of Britain's maritime history.