It seems that the former 19th century tea clipper, the cutty sark was set ablaze. It might of been by arsonists but investigations are continuing. The vessel was almost burnt beyond repair. It was in drydock for repairs i believe when the unimaginable occured. Who would want to destroy such a lovely piece of sailing history. Anyhow, untill the full investigation reaveals what truely happned, here is a news report. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=456540&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
Cutty Sark burns There is some sad news concerning the famous Cutty Sark we've talked of recently: ...courtesy of latitude / at Cutty Sark Burns in Greenwich Drydock May 21 - London, UK The world's last remaining tea clipper, Cutty Sark, was badly burned this morning by a substantial fire of unknown origin. She had been hauled out at a Greenwich dry dock since last year undergoing a $50 million renovation. An initial interior inspection of the hull by Ian Bell, manager of the refit project, indicated that she is salvageable, as the blaze did not cause major distortions to her iron frame. Luckily, 50% of the ship had been removed for refurbishing, including the masts, the coach house and a significant amount of planking. Launched in 1869, the 280-ft ship made eight voyages to China in the tea trade via the Cape of Good Hope, some in record time. After being put to use in a variety of later endeavors around the world, she was returned to England and put on public display in 1957. See www.cuttysark.org.uk for more info on this historic ship. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, Cutty Sark has been visited in her Greenwich berth by several million people a year. © 2007 UK Tourism
