---
title: Cutty Sark: Fastest Ship in the World
author: Mark Cartwright
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2782/cutty-sark/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 2025-08-26
---
# Cutty Sark: Fastest Ship in the World
_Authored by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/)_
With thousands of square feet of canvas capturing every breath of the [trade](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/trade/) winds, a 19th-century tea clipper was the absolute pinnacle of sailing evolution. The *Cutty Sark* was just such a ship, carrying tea and then wool across the far-flung outposts of the British [Empire](https://www.worldhistory.org/empire/). The *Cutty Sark* gained the record as the fastest ship in the world in the 1880s thanks to its sleek design and 32 sails. This literal speed merchant could breeze past the very latest steamships, but the age of sail was coming to an end as steam engine technology improved. Today *Cutty Sark*, fully restored after a 50-year career at sea, is a museum on the River Thames.
[  Cutty Sark by Spurling Jack Spurling (Public Domain) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20877/cutty-sark-by-spurling/ "Cutty Sark by Spurling")### The Clippers
Clippers were ships of the 18th and 19th centuries, specifically built for speed. With slim, streamlined hulls and an absolute forest of masts and sails, clippers carried cargo across the Atlantic Ocean and up and down the east coast of the United States. The clippers broke all speed records and began to be used for much longer runs, particularly across the British Empire. Clippers carried commodities like opium, wool, and, most famously, tea.
The largest producers of tea in the mid-19th century were [India](https://www.worldhistory.org/india/) and [China](https://www.worldhistory.org/china/), and the demand in [Britain](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Britain/) and its colonies was practically insatiable. A competitive tradition arose between importers as to which could ship the first tea of the season to British merchants in London. With tea the height of fashion, wealthy customers were willing to pay high prices to enjoy the drink before everyone else. Import companies could make a killing in sales if they could get just a few days ahead of their rivals. As speed became the absolute priority, clippers were crewed and captained by the very best seamen available. The press covered the clippers' voyages, and people even laid bets on which particular clipper would arrive home first. The *Cutty Sark* was one such tea clipper.
The *Cutty Sark* was a latecomer to the tea trade, indeed, by the time it first set sail in February 1870, destination Shanghai, the tea trade had already been turned upside down by the opening of the Suez Canal the year before. No longer necessary to round the Cape of Good Hope, the clippers faced stiff competition from rival ships that had a 3,000-mile shorter voyage. Fortunately for the *Cutty Sark* and its contemporaries, the winds around the Suez Canal were unpredictable, unlike the trade winds the clippers harnessed with their [giant](https://www.worldhistory.org/Giants/) sails. Time may have been running out, but the *Cutty Sark* still had a chance to make history, and tea was still big business: Britain imported 28 million kilograms of tea in 1869 alone.
[  Cutty Sark Photograph A.C.Green / R.Woodget (Public Domain) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20878/cutty-sark-photograph/ "Cutty Sark Photograph")### Built for Speed
*Cutty Sark* was constructed in Dumbarton, [Scotland](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Scotland/), and it was built for one thing only: speed. The name of the ship comes from a poem by Robert Burns, *Tam O'Shanter*, where it refers to a curious short shirt worn by a witch. The ship had an iron-framed hull covered with East India teak and American rock elm. Over 280 ft (85 m) in length, the three-masted ship was immensely strong and decidedly slim and sleek with its distinctive sharp bow. Any clipper was a breathtaking sight when all its sails were unfurled, and the *Cutty Sark* was no exception, or rather, it was the exception since the ship's reinforced hull allowed it to carry more canvas than other ships ever dared set. The *Cutty Sark* could hoist 32,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of sail. With over 11 miles (17.7 km) of wire rigging to keep in order, it took an expert crew to manage the ship in high winds. The *Cutty Sark*'s top speed was 17.5 knots, 2.5 better than the average contemporary steamer.
### Record-Breaker
The *Cutty Sark*'s specialty was carrying goods like wine, spirits, and [beer](https://www.worldhistory.org/Beer/) from Britain, and then, on the run home, tea from China. *Cutty Sark*'s hold could carry an impressive 10,000 tea chests. Such a cargo of tea would today be worth around $8 million. But the Suez Canal was by now allowing steamships from China to arrive in London fully ten days before the clippers could. It was for this reason that the *Cutty Sark* made only eight tea trips. World trade, as it has done so often before and since, had shifted with the times.
The ship's owners were loath to lose their investment on such a high-speed vessel, and so the *Cutty Sark* switched to alternative trade routes where competition was less fierce. Although as fast as ever, it was not all plain sailing. An infamous mutiny in 1880 while crossing the Java Sea led to the *Cutty Sark*'s captain being driven to despair and diving overboard, where he was promptly eaten by sharks. In 1883, the *Cutty Sark* switched routes again, this time to carry wool from Australia. The *Cutty Sark* could make it back to London 25 days quicker than any other ship on this route. In 1886, the ship sped from Sydney to London in a record 73 days. To get the record, the clipper's captain had sailed much further south than was usual, risking the treacherous but beneficial winds of the roaring forties and the odd iceberg, but nobody cared much about that, except perhaps the insurers. The *Cutty Sark* had been built for just such records.
[  Map of the Movement of "Tea" & "Cha" Around the Globe Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14112/map-of-the-movement-of-tea--cha-around-the-globe/ "Map of the Movement of "Tea" & "Cha" Around the Globe")Steam power was evolving faster than ever, and by the 1890s, clippers like the *Cutty Sark* began to be retired from the more hectic trade routes. A Portuguese company bought the *Cutty Sark,* and it was renamed *Ferreira* and then *Maria do Amparo*. The clipper continued to carry trade goods, this time across the [Portuguese Empire](https://www.worldhistory.org/Portuguese_Empire/). Still in service into the 20th century, the ship avoided being sunk by submarines in WWI, but time and heavy seas were literally wearing the old ship out.
A rather dilapidated *Cutty Sark* returned permanently to Britain when it was bought by Captain Wilfred Dowman, who restored it to its former glory in 1923 and gave the ship its famous name back. Serving as a cadet training ship and general curiosity, Dowman bequeathed *Cutty Sark* to the Thames Nautical Training College. Public money helped the Cutty Sark Preservation Society again restore the ship in the 1950s. A fire in 2007 meant another round of restoration, but the great clipper, today a fixed museum on the Thames at Greenwich, still retains 90% of its original hull material. Although now stuck forever in its concrete dry dock, the *Cutty Sark* effortlessly conveys its potential for speed, a potent reminder of the lost magnificence of the golden age of sail.
#### Editorial Review
This human-authored article has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/).
## Bibliography
- [Corey, Melinda et al. *The Encyclopedia of the Victorian World.* Henry Holt & Co, 1996.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0805026223/)
- [Cutty Sark: Royal Greenwich Musuems](https://www.rmg.co.uk/cutty-sark/history "Cutty Sark: Royal Greenwich Musuems"), accessed 22 Aug 2025.
- [Graham, Ian. *Fifty Ships That Changed the Course of History.* Firefly Books, 2023.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0228103649/)
## About the Author
Mark is WHE’s Publishing Director and has an MA in Political Philosophy (University of York). He is a full-time researcher, writer, historian and editor. Special interests include art, architecture and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share.
## External Links
- [Royal Greenwich Museums - Cutty Sark](https://www.rmg.co.uk/cutty-sark/history)
## Cite This Work
### APA
Cartwright, M. (2025, August 26). Cutty Sark: Fastest Ship in the World. *World History Encyclopedia*.
### Chicago
Cartwright, Mark. "Cutty Sark: Fastest Ship in the World." *World History Encyclopedia*, August 26, 2025. .
### MLA
Cartwright, Mark. "Cutty Sark: Fastest Ship in the World." *World History Encyclopedia*, 26 Aug 2025, .
## License & Copyright
Submitted by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/ "User Page: Mark Cartwright"), published on 26 August 2025. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.