I have just recieved my beautiful model of HMS Beagle which will be used for our exhibition on Evolution here at the Danish Natural History Museum. Thanks Premier Ship Models. Buyer of HMS Beagle Model Ship (Jan 09) MORE >>
I could not believe how quick it arrived. It was a gift for my Father who is over the moon with it. I hope to do business with you again. Jane Cumiskey, Buyer of J S Elcano (+) Kit (UK Aug 08) MORE >>
Just to say the
Flying Fish arrived and was a great success so thank you for all your help and
advice.Linda Boereboom, Buyer of the Flying Fish Model Ship (UK Oct 08) >> MORE
The model
arrived yesterday afternoon and is absolutely
fabulous!
Many thanks -
it takes pride and place in my office!Gordon
Harris , HMS Endeavour Model Ship Platinum (Jersey Nov 08)>> MORE
Thank you for sending the model HMS Bounty so promptly. The model arrived extremely well packaged, and in excellent condition.Mark Stevens , Buyer of HMS Bounty Kit (France Nov 08 ) >> MORE
I am sending this E Mail to thank you for the swift delivery of a very fine model which will give me & my grandchildren many years of pleasure.Ron Eccles, Buyer of Sailing Dinghy (UK Nov 08) >> MORE
I just wanted to let you know that my
dad received his gift certificate - and on time!!Thank you so much for your help in making in his 60th b'day so special.Kindest regards,Sally Fitzpatrick Buyer of HMS Endeavour Model Ship ( UK Dec 08) >> MORE
Thanks for the opportunity to work with Premier Ship Models on Tidewater’s model projects! Throughout the process though Premier has been
responsive to Tidewater’s needs.Chris
KastellaManager Purchasing &
Administration
Tidewater(Dec 08) >> MORE
Pictures are great, true craftsmanship! Well done, the quality of
the wood, speaks for itself too.Best Wishes to the team.Khalid Lodhi , Buyer HMS Bounty Model Ship (UK Nov 08)>> MORE
Among
the most famous old sailing ships still extant, Cutty Sark was one of
the last clippers built for the China tea trade. Ordered by Captain
John Willis of London, her hull was of composite construction, with
teak planking on iron frames.
Cutty Sark’s name is short Scottish for “short shirt” and comes from the Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter”. The reason for his choice of name is not known.
Willis insistence that only the finest materials be used in the
construction of the Cutty Sark resulted in the bankruptcy of her
original builders. Denny Brothers, who took over their yard, then
oversaw her completion.
Even though she lost one of her most dramatic encounters with her main
rival, Thermopylae, she still acquired the admiration of London, for
the persistence of her crew. She completed a 16,000-mile journey in one
hundred and nineteen days, by no means an illustrious feat; the
admiration was the inventiveness of her crew in building makeshift
rudders twice, as she had lost her rudder in severe gales.
The advent of the steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal meant
that clippers were no longer economic, and by 1878, clippers were out
of the tea trade. A number of unfortunate accidents happened on board
the ship between 1878 and 1883. These included a murder and one of her
Captains (Captain Wallace) going mad and jumping overboard.
In 1883 however, things were about to change for the clipper ship. She
did the return journey from England to Australia (under Captain W.
Moore) with a cargo of wool through the Cape of Good Hope in
seventy-nine days. As with the tea trade, speed was also a critical
factor for the wool trade.
Richard Woodget, who
became Cutty Sark’s most celebrated master, succeeded Moore. Her best
run was in 1888, where she did the journey in sixty-nine days, shaving
an amazing ten days off her previous record.
She completed
her last journey to Australia in 1895, and was sold to J. A. Ferreira
of Lisbon. Four years later, she was again sold to the Cia de Navegacao
de Portugal and was renamed Maria di Amparo.
In 1922, she was in Falmouth, when Captain Wilfred Dowman spotted her.
Later that year, he purchased the ship at his own expense and brought
her back to England and re-named her by her famous name. She was
restored for use as a full-rigged training ship at Falmouth.
When Dowman died in 1936, his widow donated the ship to the Thames Nautical Training College. In 1952, the Cutty Sark Preservation Society came together under the auspices of Frank Carr, Director of the National Maritime Museum. Finally in 1954, she was opened as a museum at Greenwich.
Cutty
Sark has had tremendous international renown since 1923 when the London
vintners Berry Bros. & Rudd, Ltd., named their blended Scotch
whisky by her name.
Two years after the ship opened to the public, Cutty Sark began her sponsorship of tall-ship races of the International Sail Training Association.
Brettle, Cutty Sark. Fox smith, Return of the Cutty Sark. Lubbock, Log of the Cutty Sark.
