Thermopylae (clipper)
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- For the Greek mountain pass of the same name, see Thermopylae.
Thermopylae was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co of Aberdeen to the design of Bernard Weymouth of London for the White Star Line of Aberdeen.
She measured 212'0"×36'0"×20'9" and tonnage 991 GRT, 948 NRT and 927 tons under deck. The under deck coefficient was 0,58. Rigged with royal sails, single topgallant and double top-sails.
She was designed for the China tea trade, and set speed records on her maiden voyage to Melbourne -- 63 days, still the fastest trip under sail. In 1872 she raced the clipper Cutty Sark from Shanghai back to London and won by seven days after Cutty Sark lost her rudder. In 1895 she was sold to Portugal and used as a naval training ship. The Portuguese Navy torpedoed her at sea in 1906.
[edit] Further reading
- Hume, Cyril L.; Armstrong, Malcolm C. The Cutty Sark and Thermopylae Era of Sail. Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1987 (hardcover, ISBN 0851745008).
- Matheson, Marny. Clippers for the record: The story of ship Thermopylae, S.S. Aberdeen, and Captain Charles Matheson. Melbourne: Spectrum, 1984 (ISBN 0867860510).
[edit] External link
[edit] Other Clipper Ships
| Clipper ships, designers & builders | |
|---|---|
| British-built clippers | |
| Ariel | Blackadder | Cutty Sark | Hallowe'en | Leander | Lothair | Norman Court | Sir Lancelot | Tayleur | Thermopylae | Tsaitsing | |
| American-built clippers | |
| Champion of the Seas | Flying Cloud | Lightning | |
| British designers and builders | |
| Hercules Linton | William Lithgow | Scott & Linton | |
| American designers and builders | |
| Donald McKay | |
