The reason sail was quicker and more profitable on long journeys like the wool trade from Australia to the UK was than even when steamships could go faster (although when using the Roaring Forties winds under sail, even that is open to debate) a sailing ship has a lot more cargo space available for profitable cargo than a steamer. In addition to the gross tonnage of coal required to power a steamship (which decreases profitable cargo space) even then steamers couldn't carry enough coal to do the voyage without stopping a few times en-route to coal-up. Each stop to refuel gave a well navigated sailing ship time to overhaul. Something about the 'tortoise and the hare' applied here.
The hull is sheathed in copper (actually a copper zinc alloy) which prevents attack from tropical boring worms & molluscs & the build up of barnacles & weed which reduce the speed of a basic timber hull by increasing drag. This was first developed in the late mid 18th century by the Royal Navy who were able to do so as at that time only the copper mines of the UK (principally those of Wales) were able to produce sufficient copper, this being smelted & refined in Swansea (where a superior smelting process was developed & used),which at its’ peak produced over 90% of the total global production of copper. This is the origin of the term a “copper bottomed promise”, meaning that a copper protected ship was highly likely to make the journey safely whereas an unprotected timber hulled ship, full of worm & encrusted in barnacles & weed below the waterline, was more likely to founder & be lost in heavy seas.
Largely through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England no later than the 16th century according to Leonhard Rauwolf's 1583 account. In Britain and elsewhere, the coffee house became an increasingly common feature in towns and cities the length and breadth of the land, making the drink familiar to millions. The first coffeehouse in England was opened in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill. The proprietor was Pasqua Rosée, the servant of Daniel Edwards, a trader in Turkish goods. Edwards imported the coffee and assisted Rosée in setting up the establishment. I'm in London and several coffee shop premises still exist around the Bank of England... The Grand Cafe in Oxford is alleged to be the first Coffee House in England, opened in 1650 by a Jewish man named Jacob. It is still open today, but has since become a popular Wine Bar. Oxford's Queen's Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still in existence today. By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses throughout England. Popularity of coffeehouses spread rapidly in Europe, and later, America. The banning of women from coffeehouses was not universal, but does appear to have been common in Europe. In Germany women frequented them, but in England they were banned. Many believed coffee to have several medicinal properties in this period. Tea was very expensive, so only the wealthy drank it. But then tea became less costly, prices dropped and it took over as the UK's drink of choice !
The masts of a sailing ship pass right down through the hull and are stepped (Fixed) into the keel, which is the strongest timber section of the hull. However, as you suggest, the pressure of the wind on the sails would snap the thickest mast like a carrot, the strength comes from what is called the "Standing Rigging", this is the strongest section of ropes which simply support the masts, the "Running Rigging" are the ropes which control the sails and yards (Horizontal spars that hold the sails) Both masts and yards bend alarmingly in a strong wind (If they didn't bend they would snap) the skill, experience and knowledge of the Captain and crew decided how much sail to set, and how to position it, to achieve the maximum speed while keeping within the safe limits of masts, hull and rigging. Wilf Upton
I'm 70 years old. My great grandfather sailed on the Cutty Sark - he was the carpenter. I never met him, but when I was about 10 or 11 I met his wife (my great grandmother) who was of course a very old lady. I inherited only one small thing from him - a small piece of "logwood" (used for dying) from one of his voyages to Central or South America (possibly on another ship).
When the reporter stops to describe the view,in the background next to the river you can see a circular building with a glass roof.If you venture inside as I did you go down a circular stairway and at the bottom there is a tunnel ,built by the Victorians which take pedestrians under the Thames to the other side of the river
As kids we would run through that tunnel screaming at the top of our voices... the acoustics are amazing... the little man that looked after the lift somehow didnt agree! 😂🤣😂
I have been through that tunnel. Much like the Pedestrian Tyne tunnel. The difference is, in Tyneside you are not traveling between languages and cultures in A few hundred yards.
Greenwich a great day out, stand on the Timeline, visit the observatory, walk around the Cutty Sark, and walk under the Thames (that dome next to is is the entrance to the free tunnel). Greenwich also has a brewery. And Thor was filmed there!
My great, great grandfather was on the Cutty Sark. He eventually was Master of his own ship. The Cutty Sark takes her name from the poem "Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns. When she won, her crew would put a piece of teased out rope into the figurehead's outstretched hand. The figurehead shows "cutty sark" (short shirt/shift), the witch who grabs Tam's horse, Meg's, tail. He escapes, leaving the witch holding the Grey Mare's tail. Cape Horn is the tip of South America. The Cape of Good Hope is the tip of South Africa. The most famous clippers were all Scots built. Two had skippers from the county of Fife in Scotland.Ariel and Taeping were built in Greenock, Scotland, Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland and Thermopylae was built in Aberdeen. My Mum's family were Duthie from Aberdeen, who had their own shipbuilding business. One of the family, William, sailed on the Cutty Sark.
There are sail makers around today, Jeckels in Hoveton, Norfolk still going strong. People still sail and there are still a few of old style ships about.
I still have sail making tools used by one of my seafaring ancestors, (who hailed from both the East and West coasts of Scotland. We have a lot of mariners on both sides of the family -and country!) My paternal Grandfather was still sailing to Ireland from Glasgow when I was small. He carried his own Pilot's Licence so he could dock without hailing a Pilot. I have his Handbook, and it is fascinating.
Dude, if you come to England you really have to visit Portsmouth. The HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship) and where he met his end & HMS warrior, the first iron hull sail ship. Plus the Mary rose & museum. Totally fascinating & you get a tour guide who takes you through the ships. In London you've got HMS Belfast, a WW2 battleship. Real eye openers.
Happily I will be visiting Portsmouth for the HMS Victory and the Mary Rose this June. I've been fascinated by Henry VIII's naval battle, and will also visit Winchester, so significant early in England's history. I cannot wait!
@@pashvonderc381 thank you, yes, I will do that. Some years ago I read CJ Sansom's book 'Heartstone', which fictionalises the Battle of the Solent, which does a reasonable job of telling the path of the battle. I've been reading other more scholarly references too.
Hi Connor, Your question, 'where do I get my ticket?' go to Greenwich, there is a ticket booth next to the ship, cost currently £16 (about $21), there is also a deal including entry to Royal observatory for £25 (about $33) Both are open 10am to 5pm.. I think you ticket is o a given time slot, I haven't been on it since the repairs following the fire.
Greenwich is a great place to visit: the Royal Observatory and 0 degrees meridian, the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark, and then the Thames Clipper high speed ferry back to central London along the Thames. You need a full day to do it properly. Other places to visit in Britain with significant maritime interest are Portsmouth with the HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, Mary Rose and the Royal Naval museum; Hartlepool with HMS Trincomalee; Dundee with HMS Unicorn and the polar research ship Discovery; Glasgow with the tall ship Glenlee. And for more recent ships there’s HMS Belfast, a Second World War cruiser in central London and the German submarine U-534 in Birkenhead, just across the Mersey from Liverpool. Also in Liverpool is Western Approaches, the Royal Navy bunker that contained the headquarters where the Battle of Atlantic was controlled from. Oh, and there’s Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent, but I haven’t got round to visiting that one yet.
You need to imagine that the power of the wind is introduce a bit at a time, so the ship is moving as the sails open. The power of the wind isn't switched onto max power from the get go. With the power being stepped in this helps the Masts take the strain of the wind as the Ship is already moving.
The shrouds (the thick ropes covered in tar) are basically guy wires and stop the mast moving side to side. There are also stays which are the same but support the mast fore and aft.
The masts aren't held up under their own strength. The secret is the rigging. It's not just to control the sails, thicker cables held under tension are what keep the masts up and yes, those mail ones are more than just rope, they're rope bound in cloth and twine and then tarred and more cloth and twine... It protects them from seawater.
The HSBC building is headquarters of the HSBC Holdings Plc which was founded by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which dated back to Hong Kong in 1865. It is the second largest bank in Europe. As part of the Chinese take back of Hong Kong, the company was forced to move its HQ to London.
You would also like H.M.S. Warrior which is an armour plated and iron hulled steam and sail frigate . She can be seen in Portsmouth not far from H.M.S. Victory.
Also the SS Great Britain in Bristol docks. Designed by the world's greatest ever engineer, Ismabard Kingdom Brunel, at the time she was built (1843) she was by far the largest and fastest ship in the world and the first screw propeller driven, iron hulled steam ship. Also the first iron ship to cross the Atlantic which she did in a record 14 days. You can see the Clifton Suspension Bridge from her deck (also designed by Brunel).
coffee was more popular in Britain in the 1650's Before tea was introduced But there was a shortage of coffee later do to a blight on the plants . So tea was drunk instead . Shown at about 3.60 is The Cutty Sark with her stun sails set . I have sailed much smaller ship then this . When under sail the motion of the ship is very different than when under sail only . She lifts over the waves . But when power cuts through them. One major reason she has survived is the mixture of iron and wood hull , Known as a composite hull . The Black on the shrouds is tar . use to protect the rope from rot from salt in the air . The masts go all the way down to the keel . The wooden post like structures that go a cross the mast and called yards. I make working models of sailing ships . Some years ago I made one of the Cutty Sark , about 4 foot 7 inches long . And I was surprised how fast she !
The horizontal beams on the masts are called the yards. The bottom of the mast is secured to the keel beam, so the mast is actually supported vertically by every deck right down to the bilges.
I have built this ship, as a model, twice as a child. And a damn fine blended scotch whisky too! Just poured myself a celebratory shot in honor of this video ... now aged over 35 years! The masts of course, are mated with the one piece keel at the very bottom. Cape of Good Hope (Africa) vs Cape Horn (S America). The captain jumped over board? Suuuure he did. Read Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner for context.
Great reaction 👍 The park she's initially talking in is my local park...the views are stunning & u can see the Cutty Sark and all across london from the top of the hill by the Royal Observatory. As a child the ship as well as the maritime museum, observatory and victorian foot tunnel (next to the Cutty Sark)....were my playgrounds lol The Royal Navy College used to be totally off limits but now is part of Greenwich University...alot of history...you'd love it. Henry VIII had his palace...Placentia at Greenwich where Elizabeth I was born...and you have the time line for GMT running thru the park from the Observatory. Love ur enthusiasm and u ask very good questions 🤘🏻🇬🇧
First visit to the Cutty Sark was in the late 1950s on a school trip. 'Cutty Sark' is an archaic Scottish name for a short nightdress. 'Cutty' means short or stumpy, and 'sark' means nightdress or shirt.
The mast is "Stepped" i.e. supported vertically by the keel and the decks stop the lower part of the mast moving in any horizontal direction (forward, backward, and side to side). Shrouds, like the ones she climbed up, stop the mast toppling sideways, and stays stop the mast moving forwards or backwards. Most of the stresses are on the backstays, as these transmit the forward force of the sails, via the sheets (ropes) and booms (horizontal spars) through the masts and stays, to the hull, and the shrouds, which stop the masts being torn out of the deck when the ship has the wind on her beam (coming from either side, rather than from astern). Think triangles, rather like guy ropes support a tent or a marquee. Things get very hairy when the seas are rough and the masts are swinging from side to side or forward and backward, as the pendulum effect puts enormous additional strain on the standing rigging, (the shrouds and stays). On those occasions the upper parts of the masts can be "struck" - brought down to deck level, and secured to reduce the danger to the ship.
Coffee was popular in Great Britain as well as tea. In fact Lloyds of London, which grew out of marine insurance around 1686, had its roots in coffee commerce in Lloyds Coffee House in London. It is a fascinating history, well worth looking up. The Lloyds building itself is also worth a separate look.
The Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland and the Thermopylae was built in Aberdeen, Scotland and unfortunately sunk by the Peruvian navy as target practice.
The Cutty Sark was less efficient when travelling via the Suez Canal where speed was restricted as opposed to the unrestrict open Ocean route round South Africa. Tony in England
I think let the mast is held in position by ropes attached to it at a diagonal. The ropes are taut and can't stretch any further. To simplify it imagine each most had a rope going from it at a diagonal in the North, south east and west directions. Well if the mast started to lean over in a northerly direction the ropes pointing to the south east and west would hold it in place and stop it leaning over further. The same would apply if it went over in any direction the ropes attached in the opposing directions would restrain it. I'm sure that the rigging that holds the mast in place is a lot more complicated than I am describing, but the principle is right. A lean in any direction would put tension on the ropes attached in opposing directions and these would be massively thick and massively strong. It's not dissimilar to the way guy lines hold up a tent pole, except that instead of attaching to tent pegs they would be attached to the hull of the ship
There were coffee houses in the 17th century. (Lloyds of London began in 'The Black Horse' coffee house) Tea became more fashionable in the 18th century.
I think Drachinifel has a video on hull development, but IIRC, he doesn't linger on why sailship hulls were formed as they were. If you look at earlier sail ships from the Napoleonic era, they have broad bows. I suspect they were made that way to create extra buoyancy to counteract the downwards effect of of the sails.
I had a business 200 yards from the Cutty Sark, and also went on it a few times. Including on a school trip. I was there when the fire happened. It's close to the Maritime museum,which has the uniform Nelson was killed in. Its tiny. Small man with huge cahonas. There were coffee shops in London in Jonathan Swifts time. The first apparently being around 1650.
Here's something I realised the other day, I am from England and into my 50s, all through my childhood and even now we've always had coffee tables, yet I don't know anyone that drank coffee until I was well into my 20s, none of my family did as it was always Tea, so I don't know why it's called a coffee table.
Although I live in London, I grew up on the Wirral and we rarely had coffee. But we did have a 'tea table' and I remember it disappeared one day and had been replaced with a brand new 'coffee table'. This would have been the early 1970's and I remember my mum being so pleased about it... Funny thing, I only thought about it last year and asked myself the same question. So I decided to find out what I could; Basically thus; Tea tables were a 'thing' - usually round, about 27 inches+ high, so taller than a coffee table (which is what we had that was given away or dumped I never knew what happened to it). A coffee table originally had to follow certain basics rules, though. A low surface, 18-19 inches from the floor - Women's Weekly magazine in the 70's or similar (can't remember exactly) had an article, which I do recall - “It should be of the same height as the cushions on your sofa, or 1-2 inches lower,” & “The coffee table should be approximately two-thirds the sofa's length.” 😃EDIT: Just remembered why they became so fashionable: Being shorter they meant that a room looked larger to the eye and yet remained practical for cups etc. Especially useful in flats or smaller premises.
@@stewedfishproductions7959 Yes this was early 70s too, I remember sitting at the coffee table to eat my tea in front of the tv, I think my mum still has that table, all I remember the table was used for is cups of tea, feet and putting the tv guide and newspapers under, but never coffee lol, though I do remember my Grandparents having a taller table but not it being called anything even a tea table, always assumed it was a coffee table.
Most of the power of the wind is transferred to the hull through the rigging not the mast a sailing ship has two types of rigging halyards and stays a halyard is live rigging a rope which is attached to a moving part of the sail or spar which then passes through various blocks to change direction before ending at the waist the middle of the top deck where it is hauled by the "waisters" usually the largest strongest but least skilled crewmen to adjust the sails then you have the standing rigging or stays these are static ropes anchoring the masts at several points back down to the hull to prevent the masts being bent too far and breaking the masts job is to hold the sails up not transferring power.
The Hong Kong and Shanghi Banking Corporation - since it's the sky line of the city of London the fact she can see the headquarters of one of the world's biggest banks (which you really should have heard of!) is not surprising.
9:50 The cutters did not go through the Suez Canal. They would have needed tugs through the canal, I'm sure that could have been arranged, but more problematic they would have had to sail up the Red Sea, which is straight, narrow, and full of reefs: a nightmare for a sailing ship (but no problem for a steamer).
I have today just finished the last ( complete) book of 20 by Patrick O`Brian, in the Aubrey and Maturin series. Fiction and based on the British Navy from about 1802 to 1816, he researched the books from original ship`s logs at Greenwich and other books on the subject i.e N. Rodger`s book The Wooden World .I picked up some interesting facts for example at one point the Captain calls for LESS sail ,as too much puts the bows under water and reduces speed .Again to get more speed the sails are wetted to make them more resistant to the wind. I guess a lot of the expertise of the Captains of these sailing vessels was trial and error. I`m still absorbing much of the factual stuff from the books.
Cape Horn around bottom of South America...Cape of Good Hope around bottom of South Africa. Roaring 40s & further south into the Screaming 60s. Massive waves as there are no land masses to break them up.
No idea how I managed to fall down the reaction "rabbit hole":) but another interesting video, thank you! They're interesting and relaxing, and great when you're sleepy- like hanging out with a friend but without the emotional commitment of having to answer haha
Good video. Check out the story of longtitude and a genius named Harrison who invented the marine chronometer and solved the problem. Its why the prime meridian runs through Greenwich London . Check out the saying ship shape and Bristol fashion. Today it means neat and tidy everything in its place. It's origin is a way of arranging sails .
Coffee and tea arrived in Britain, around the same time, mid 17 century.. But when the East India Company got involved, there was always gonna be 1 winner
Connor, I was born in Greenwich and am living there now. Come to Greenwich… pub crawl and a visit to the Cutty Sark. One of the best historic places in London. Also about every modern movie filmed in “old days” was done here. Let’s go, mate!
As a small child my family lived for a while in Blackheath and we would often go to Greenwich. Loved seeing the Cutty Sark to a 6 year old it was massive and beautiful. Mind you i also loved the park and the meridian line for me to was fasinating having one foot in the West the other in th East.
I think that even into the 1920s and maybe 1940s sail ships were used to deliver grain from Australia to the UK. They were slower than oil fired ships but ( and I'm not an expert on this) grain had to be stored for a while after harvesting before it could be processed into flower. The slower wind powered grain ships allowed the ship to serve as both transport and storage and thus avoid warehousing costs in the UK because the grain achieved the necessary ageing in transit. All the other comments people have made about not requiring any storage space for fuel and no overhead from fuel costs also apply, so taking into account all of that the sail ships were cheaper per tonne of grain delivered from Australia to the UK. I have a feeling that changes in the processing of grain into flower killed off the need for ageing the grain and thus combined with the rising cost of labour and the improving cargo capacity of bulk carriers took away the sale ships economic edge and removed them from active commercial service.
I love the History Hit channel, but in terms of ships, there's a series on Amazon Prime called The World's Greatest ships. The presenter is really passionate and gives you a better backstory.
The clipper design was an American invention of the late 18th Century from the East coast. I think it was particularly associated with the port of Baltimore. They were for rapid transport of high value cargo from the Caribbean.
World wind patterns are reliable in the more northerly and southern latitudes, with strong, regular and fairly predictable 'trade winds', but in some parts of the tropics they are less so, resulting in 'the Doldrums' where sail ships can be becalmed, which could be a big problem with perishable cargoes. Steam ships are not affected by this. Many early steam ships also had sails to save costs, but were presumably more trouble than they were worth and abandoned.
QUOTE........Coffee came to England in the mid-17th century According to Samuel Pepys, England's first coffee house was established in Oxford in 1650 at The Angel in the parish of St Peter in the east, by a Jewish gentleman named Jacob, in the building now known as The Grand Cafe...UNQUOTE. Loyd's of London (Insurance) started its life in a Coffee shop in London back then. The Cutty Sark was almost completely destroyed by a devastating fire a few years ago. It has undergone a lot of restoration. If you watch the London Marathon this year, you'll see the runners go round this ship.....very soon after the race starts.
When you raised the issue of punishment on the ship remember this was a merchant ship not a Royal navy ship where the crew were subject the the Articles of War since the 1650's. An alleged murderer would face a court-martial and if found guilty we would be hanged from the yardarm. On a merchant ship I guess the responsibility lay with the local jurisdiction where the incident occurred.
Connor there are some youtube channels out there that are building wooden sailing boats Acorn to Arabella , or Sampson boat co to name a couple they are smaller boats but the method is still the same.
I love any old buildings,cars,clothes etc I find it fascinating. Look at an old building and wonder how many people have walked on the floors and cooked a meal in the old times. Just look at the ship it must have been a fantastic thing to look at close up.
Cutty Sark Vs Thermopylae. The two greatest clippers. Cutty Sark ended up a museum ship in Greenwich, The Thermopylae sold off to the Portuguese Navy and eventually sunk by them in a gun fire test.
The painting at 3:18 seems a bit fantastic. A ship would only carry this much sail when there was little wind, and you wanted to catch as much as possible of whatever wind there was. Yet, the waves looks like there is a pretty stiff blow going on. Especially the studding sails on each side seems unbelievable. Masts and spars could be broken off, or too high press on the sails would bog the bow down in the waves and actually slow the ship down. I wish Drachinifel would do a video on sailship rigging history. In the age of sail, Navy ships would often be faster, because they would carry enough crew to mount extra sails, like top gallants and royal top gallants over the top sails. A merchant vessel would make do with as little crew as possible to not cut into the profits of the journey. I suppose that in the later 19th century, the supremacy of the Royal Navy had made sea lanes safer, and the speed of these ship also meant that crews could concentrate wholly on the rigging and not worry about manning guns for defense. I don't know if there were any technological advance that made it possible for a ship like this to carry not only coursers and top sails, but also top gallants, royals, sky sails and moon sails. To have crew enough to man all that rigging would only make sense if the speed achieved would garner enough extra income to make it profitable.
The base of the mast is made of steel and runs all the way down into the bowel of the ship from the upper deck, that not only strengthens the mast but keeps the ship stable on the ocean. I made a few of them for private yachts when i worked for a company in Glasgow (the city that incidentally at it's peak built 80% of the worlds ships, Glasgow built the majority of the clipper ships in the world) Funny how that ship ran on wind power and today we are still looking at getting energy from wind power.
When I was young I had a school trip to visit the cutty sark The main things I remember was the size of the masts comperd to the ship itself. But above all the figurehead ,she is a witch holding a horses tail chasing tam o shanter from the Burns poem
Check out the American clipper ships. Raced around the horn to San Francisco from Boston. Also did the China trade. "Flying Cloud " comes to mind. Faster than the English ships!
Yeah we had coffee early on, it wasnt alien to us, but VERY expensive. Brittain had full control of their tea supply after stealing the plants from China and planting them just over the border in India, which at the time was part of our empire. Coffee would have been traded at great cost.
Hiya ..saw your reaction to the Cutty Sark ….you obviously have a lot of questions in your quest to learn more about history ….try this ( sorry it’s a long video …but think it will give you all the information you need to know about the R.N.L.I. (Royal National Lifeboat Institute ..( a Charity) …in some of the roughest seas in the world our coastguards …are volunteers …..video for you to react to The History of the RNLI. “Hero’s Of The Sea”
HSBC - (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) - London Headquarters Building. They have banks throughout the UK. EDIT: Meant to add, it's the building with what looks like a pyramid for it's roof !
Some of your questions have already been answered above, so I'll go a step or two further. The masts of sailing ships were generally rooted to the keel, and obviously were secured at each deck as it rose up. The guy ropes secured the mast at several different heights to the ship's rails. The climbing rope-ladders were known as shrouds. Today, many of these are synthetic, while the originals were mainly hemp. The majority waere fastened bu cleats or belaying pins. I would highly recommend you to look at the 30-minute vids on "Climbing the mast." this was an annual voluntary exercise performed by trained recruits to the Royal Navy. Twenty-or-so of these youngsters from about twelve up the age of (I think) sixteen. They would take one step at a time, in time with the musical beat until they reached the limit, whereupon they would spread out to each side, while the "Button Boy" (or girl) would continue to the absolute pinnacle of the mast and stand on the top!! Once the exercise was finished they would each slide down the rope to the ground, with the Button Boy being the last down from 65-70 feet! The most famous of these was HMS Ganges - a land-based mast in the training depot. Unfortunately it is not done any more, but the videos still exist, and are worth watching. To go through the processes of old to modern ships, you could start with the Cutty Sark in London, the progress to HMS Victory (Nelson's Flagship), to HMS Warrior, Britain's first ironclad which fought at the American Civil War (both these ships ar in Southampton). Finally, you could visit the first Propellor-driven steamship ship SS Great Britain in Bristol. To finish the tour, you could also visit HMS Belfast, moored near Tower Bridge, London. HMS Belfast was the Command Ship during the Normandy Landings. If you had and extra day and a few spare ££'s, a quick flight to Belfast City Airport, will take to within a mile of HMS Caroline, the only survivng battleship (Light Cruiser) from the famous Battle of Jutland - which was also the greatest naval engagement of all time! This particulat visit would also include the Titanic Quarter, where you can vivs the original dry dock and pumphouse, as well the amazing "Titanic Experience" now drawing more than 100 international cruise ships every year. Hope this helps.
If you enjoyed this, try and find Tom Cunnliffe's "The Boats that built Britain", I think it's on youtube. Large mug of proper tea per episode recommended! youll
coffee came first as was eing drunk in the discussions of blowing up the houses of Parliament buy guy fauks and his accomplices way before tea was available to the masses, tea was expensive. tea that got to London first got the highest prices on the markets so speed back from Asia was paramount
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
My Great Grandfather was in the merchant navy and sailed on the Cutty Sark.
My great, great grandfather (on my Mum's side) was First Mate for a number of years, and then was on his next ship as Captain.
The reason sail was quicker and more profitable on long journeys like the wool trade from Australia to the UK was than even when steamships could go faster (although when using the Roaring Forties winds under sail, even that is open to debate) a sailing ship has a lot more cargo space available for profitable cargo than a steamer. In addition to the gross tonnage of coal required to power a steamship (which decreases profitable cargo space) even then steamers couldn't carry enough coal to do the voyage without stopping a few times en-route to coal-up. Each stop to refuel gave a well navigated sailing ship time to overhaul. Something about the 'tortoise and the hare' applied here.
The hull is sheathed in copper (actually a copper zinc alloy) which prevents attack from tropical boring worms & molluscs & the build up of barnacles & weed which reduce the speed of a basic timber hull by increasing drag.
This was first developed in the late mid 18th century by the Royal Navy who were able to do so as at that time only the copper mines of the UK (principally those of Wales) were able to produce sufficient copper, this being smelted & refined in Swansea (where a superior smelting process was developed & used),which at its’ peak produced over 90% of the total global production of copper.
This is the origin of the term a “copper bottomed promise”, meaning that a copper protected ship was highly likely to make the journey safely whereas an unprotected timber hulled ship, full of worm & encrusted in barnacles & weed below the waterline, was more likely to founder & be lost in heavy seas.
Largely through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England no later than the 16th century according to Leonhard Rauwolf's 1583 account.
In Britain and elsewhere, the coffee house became an increasingly common feature in towns and cities the length and breadth of the land, making the drink familiar to millions.
The first coffeehouse in England was opened in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill. The proprietor was Pasqua Rosée, the servant of Daniel Edwards, a trader in Turkish goods. Edwards imported the coffee and assisted Rosée in setting up the establishment.
I'm in London and several coffee shop premises still exist around the Bank of England...
The Grand Cafe in Oxford is alleged to be the first Coffee House in England, opened in 1650 by a Jewish man named Jacob. It is still open today, but has since become a popular Wine Bar. Oxford's Queen's Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still in existence today.
By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses throughout England. Popularity of coffeehouses spread rapidly in Europe, and later, America. The banning of women from coffeehouses was not universal, but does appear to have been common in Europe. In Germany women frequented them, but in England they were banned. Many believed coffee to have several medicinal properties in this period.
Tea was very expensive, so only the wealthy drank it. But then tea became less costly, prices dropped and it took over as the UK's drink of choice !
Fun fact the Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton , Scotland by William Denny in 1869
And the Thermopylae by Hall Russell in Aberdeen :)
Scottish engineering was second to none with regard to ships..bridges etc.
The masts of a sailing ship pass right down through the hull and are stepped (Fixed) into the keel, which is the strongest timber section of the hull. However, as you suggest, the pressure of the wind on the sails would snap the thickest mast like a carrot, the strength comes from what is called the "Standing Rigging", this is the strongest section of ropes which simply support the masts, the "Running Rigging" are the ropes which control the sails and yards (Horizontal spars that hold the sails) Both masts and yards bend alarmingly in a strong wind (If they didn't bend they would snap) the skill, experience and knowledge of the Captain and crew decided how much sail to set, and how to position it, to achieve the maximum speed while keeping within the safe limits of masts, hull and rigging. Wilf Upton
Steam ships needed frequent "coaling" stations to top up their bunkers. Sail ships used the winds as fuel.
I'm 70 years old. My great grandfather sailed on the Cutty Sark - he was the carpenter. I never met him, but when I was about 10 or 11 I met his wife (my great grandmother) who was of course a very old lady. I inherited only one small thing from him - a small piece of "logwood" (used for dying) from one of his voyages to Central or South America (possibly on another ship).
When the reporter stops to describe the view,in the background next to the river you can see a circular building with a glass roof.If you venture inside as I did you go down a circular stairway and at the bottom there is a tunnel ,built by the Victorians which take pedestrians under the Thames to the other side of the river
As kids we would run through that tunnel screaming at the top of our voices... the acoustics are amazing... the little man that looked after the lift somehow didnt agree! 😂🤣😂
I have been through that tunnel. Much like the Pedestrian Tyne tunnel. The difference is, in Tyneside you are not traveling between languages and cultures in
A few hundred yards.
Greenwich a great day out, stand on the Timeline, visit the observatory, walk around the Cutty Sark, and walk under the Thames (that dome next to is is the entrance to the free tunnel). Greenwich also has a brewery. And Thor was filmed there!
My great, great grandfather was on the Cutty Sark. He eventually was Master of his own ship. The Cutty Sark takes her name from the poem "Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns. When she won, her crew would put a piece of teased out rope into the figurehead's outstretched hand. The figurehead shows "cutty sark" (short shirt/shift), the witch who grabs Tam's horse, Meg's, tail. He escapes, leaving the witch holding the Grey Mare's tail. Cape Horn is the tip of South America. The Cape of Good Hope is the tip of South Africa. The most famous clippers were all Scots built. Two had skippers from the county of Fife in Scotland.Ariel and Taeping were built in Greenock, Scotland, Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland and Thermopylae was built in Aberdeen. My Mum's family were Duthie from Aberdeen, who had their own shipbuilding business. One of the family, William, sailed on the Cutty Sark.
There are sail makers around today, Jeckels in Hoveton, Norfolk still going strong. People still sail and there are still a few of old style ships about.
I still have sail making tools used by one of my seafaring ancestors, (who hailed from both the East and West coasts of Scotland. We have a lot of mariners on both sides of the family -and country!) My paternal Grandfather was still sailing to Ireland from Glasgow when I was small. He carried his own Pilot's Licence so he could dock without hailing a Pilot. I have his Handbook, and it is fascinating.
Dude, if you come to England you really have to visit Portsmouth. The HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship) and where he met his end & HMS warrior, the first iron hull sail ship. Plus the Mary rose & museum. Totally fascinating & you get a tour guide who takes you through the ships. In London you've got HMS Belfast, a WW2 battleship. Real eye openers.
Definitely do Portsmouth Dockyard, then stroll along the front to Southsea Castle…
Happily I will be visiting Portsmouth for the HMS Victory and the Mary Rose this June. I've been fascinated by Henry VIII's naval battle, and will also visit Winchester, so significant early in England's history. I cannot wait!
@@mehitabel6564 still go along to Southsea Castle, it was from there that Henry 8th saw the Mary Rose go down …
@@pashvonderc381 thank you, yes, I will do that. Some years ago I read CJ Sansom's book 'Heartstone', which fictionalises the Battle of the Solent, which does a reasonable job of telling the path of the battle. I've been reading other more scholarly references too.
Hi Connor,
Your question, 'where do I get my ticket?' go to Greenwich, there is a ticket booth next to the ship, cost currently £16 (about $21), there is also a deal including entry to Royal observatory for £25 (about $33) Both are open 10am to 5pm.. I think you ticket is o a given time slot, I haven't been on it since the repairs following the fire.
Tall ships are a magnificent sight, magical in the same way steam trains are.
Coffee was widely available since the 1670s. Londons coffee shops were infamous as hotbeds of sedition
Greenwich is a great place to visit: the Royal Observatory and 0 degrees meridian, the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark, and then the Thames Clipper high speed ferry back to central London along the Thames. You need a full day to do it properly.
Other places to visit in Britain with significant maritime interest are Portsmouth with the HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, Mary Rose and the Royal Naval museum; Hartlepool with HMS Trincomalee; Dundee with HMS Unicorn and the polar research ship Discovery; Glasgow with the tall ship Glenlee. And for more recent ships there’s HMS Belfast, a Second World War cruiser in central London and the German submarine U-534 in Birkenhead, just across the Mersey from Liverpool. Also in Liverpool is Western Approaches, the Royal Navy bunker that contained the headquarters where the Battle of Atlantic was controlled from. Oh, and there’s Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent, but I haven’t got round to visiting that one yet.
Hey Connor, check out HMS Victory and HMS Warrior, both at Portsmouth. Also the wreck of the Mary Rose.
Man i love your reactions of everything from comedy to British history. Thank you and keep up the good work ! I will look forward to your next one !
Thanks Brian! That means a lot 😄
Take a look at HMS Warrior too, Connor. I think you'll find it of interest.
I used to walk past that ship every day to work... fabulous ship!
You need to imagine that the power of the wind is introduce a bit at a time, so the ship is moving as the sails open. The power of the wind isn't switched onto max power from the get go.
With the power being stepped in this helps the Masts take the strain of the wind as the Ship is already moving.
The shrouds (the thick ropes covered in tar) are basically guy wires and stop the mast moving side to side. There are also stays which are the same but support the mast fore and aft.
That is in Greenwich, at the naval college, just across the river there is a pub called the gun. Nelson drank in there when he was in Greenwich.
The masts aren't held up under their own strength. The secret is the rigging. It's not just to control the sails, thicker cables held under tension are what keep the masts up and yes, those mail ones are more than just rope, they're rope bound in cloth and twine and then tarred and more cloth and twine... It protects them from seawater.
The HSBC building is headquarters of the HSBC Holdings Plc which was founded by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which dated back to Hong Kong in 1865. It is the second largest bank in Europe. As part of the Chinese take back of Hong Kong, the company was forced to move its HQ to London.
You would also like H.M.S. Warrior which is an armour plated and iron hulled steam and sail frigate . She can be seen in Portsmouth not far from H.M.S. Victory.
Also the SS Great Britain in Bristol docks.
Designed by the world's greatest ever engineer, Ismabard Kingdom Brunel, at the time she was built (1843) she was by far the largest and fastest ship in the world and the first screw propeller driven, iron hulled steam ship. Also the first iron ship to cross the Atlantic which she did in a record 14 days.
You can see the Clifton Suspension Bridge from her deck (also designed by Brunel).
coffee was more popular in Britain in the 1650's Before tea was introduced But there was a shortage of coffee later do to a blight on the plants . So tea was drunk instead . Shown at about 3.60 is The Cutty Sark with her stun sails set . I have sailed much smaller ship then this . When under sail the motion of the ship is very different than when under sail only . She lifts over the waves . But when power cuts through them. One major reason she has survived is the mixture of iron and wood hull , Known as a composite hull . The Black on the shrouds is tar . use to protect the rope from rot from salt in the air . The masts go all the way down to the keel . The wooden post like structures that go a cross the mast and called yards. I make working models of sailing ships . Some years ago I made one of the Cutty Sark , about 4 foot 7 inches long . And I was surprised how fast she !
The horizontal beams on the masts are called the yards. The bottom of the mast is secured to the keel beam, so the mast is actually supported vertically by every deck right down to the bilges.
Those drone shots could be advertising for NMM and Greenwich in general
Might I suggest checking out The Vasa, a Swedish warship. The story of her sinking and recovery is impressive.
The Vasa is also on my must visit list for a trip to Sweden.
I have built this ship, as a model, twice as a child. And a damn fine blended scotch whisky too! Just poured myself a celebratory shot in honor of this video ... now aged over 35 years! The masts of course, are mated with the one piece keel at the very bottom. Cape of Good Hope (Africa) vs Cape Horn (S America). The captain jumped over board? Suuuure he did. Read Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner for context.
Cutty Sark was a civilian ship not navy. Therefore navy regs did not apply.
Great reaction 👍
The park she's initially talking in is my local park...the views are stunning & u can see the Cutty Sark and all across london from the top of the hill by the Royal Observatory. As a child the ship as well as the maritime museum, observatory and victorian foot tunnel (next to the Cutty Sark)....were my playgrounds lol
The Royal Navy College used to be totally off limits but now is part of Greenwich University...alot of history...you'd love it.
Henry VIII had his palace...Placentia at Greenwich where Elizabeth I was born...and you have the time line for GMT running thru the park from the Observatory.
Love ur enthusiasm and u ask very good questions 🤘🏻🇬🇧
First visit to the Cutty Sark was in the late 1950s on a school trip. 'Cutty Sark' is an archaic Scottish name for a short nightdress. 'Cutty' means short or stumpy, and 'sark' means nightdress or shirt.
The mast is "Stepped" i.e. supported vertically by the keel and the decks stop the lower part of the mast moving in any horizontal direction (forward, backward, and side to side). Shrouds, like the ones she climbed up, stop the mast toppling sideways, and stays stop the mast moving forwards or backwards. Most of the stresses are on the backstays, as these transmit the forward force of the sails, via the sheets (ropes) and booms (horizontal spars) through the masts and stays, to the hull, and the shrouds, which stop the masts being torn out of the deck when the ship has the wind on her beam (coming from either side, rather than from astern). Think triangles, rather like guy ropes support a tent or a marquee. Things get very hairy when the seas are rough and the masts are swinging from side to side or forward and backward, as the pendulum effect puts enormous additional strain on the standing rigging, (the shrouds and stays). On those occasions the upper parts of the masts can be "struck" - brought down to deck level, and secured to reduce the danger to the ship.
Coffee was popular in Great Britain as well as tea. In fact Lloyds of London, which grew out of marine insurance around 1686, had its roots in coffee commerce in Lloyds Coffee House in London. It is a fascinating history, well worth looking up. The Lloyds building itself is also worth a separate look.
I was lucky enough to visit and board this ship in 2012, definitely worth visiting next time you're in London.
The Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland and the Thermopylae was built in Aberdeen, Scotland and unfortunately sunk by the Peruvian navy as target practice.
There is always a grace and elegance being under sail
The Cutty Sark was less efficient when travelling via the Suez Canal where speed was restricted as opposed to the unrestrict open Ocean route round South Africa.
Tony in England
I think let the mast is held in position by ropes attached to it at a diagonal. The ropes are taut and can't stretch any further. To simplify it imagine each most had a rope going from it at a diagonal in the North, south east and west directions. Well if the mast started to lean over in a northerly direction the ropes pointing to the south east and west would hold it in place and stop it leaning over further. The same would apply if it went over in any direction the ropes attached in the opposing directions would restrain it. I'm sure that the rigging that holds the mast in place is a lot more complicated than I am describing, but the principle is right. A lean in any direction would put tension on the ropes attached in opposing directions and these would be massively thick and massively strong. It's not dissimilar to the way guy lines hold up a tent pole, except that instead of attaching to tent pegs they would be attached to the hull of the ship
There were coffee houses in the 17th century. (Lloyds of London began in 'The Black Horse' coffee house) Tea became more fashionable in the 18th century.
I had the privilege to visit this ship and go on board. Fabulous 👌
Coffee was known as there were coffee shops. Where many institutions we know today started
I think Drachinifel has a video on hull development, but IIRC, he doesn't linger on why sailship hulls were formed as they were. If you look at earlier sail ships from the Napoleonic era, they have broad bows. I suspect they were made that way to create extra buoyancy to counteract the downwards effect of of the sails.
one of the reasons clippers have been preferred for tea delivery is the belief that steamer machines reduce its quality.
The masts would be stabilized by the shrouds going down on each side, and stays back and forward to keep them up.
I had a business 200 yards from the Cutty Sark, and also went on it a few times.
Including on a school trip.
I was there when the fire happened.
It's close to the Maritime museum,which has the uniform Nelson was killed in.
Its tiny.
Small man with huge cahonas.
There were coffee shops in London in Jonathan Swifts time.
The first apparently being around 1650.
Here's something I realised the other day, I am from England and into my 50s, all through my childhood and even now we've always had coffee tables, yet I don't know anyone that drank coffee until I was well into my 20s, none of my family did as it was always Tea, so I don't know why it's called a coffee table.
Although I live in London, I grew up on the Wirral and we rarely had coffee. But we did have a 'tea table' and I remember it disappeared one day and had been replaced with a brand new 'coffee table'. This would have been the early 1970's and I remember my mum being so pleased about it... Funny thing, I only thought about it last year and asked myself the same question. So I decided to find out what I could; Basically thus;
Tea tables were a 'thing' - usually round, about 27 inches+ high, so taller than a coffee table (which is what we had that was given away or dumped I never knew what happened to it). A coffee table originally had to follow certain basics rules, though. A low surface, 18-19 inches from the floor - Women's Weekly magazine in the 70's or similar (can't remember exactly) had an article, which I do recall - “It should be of the same height as the cushions on your sofa, or 1-2 inches lower,” & “The coffee table should be approximately two-thirds the sofa's length.” 😃EDIT: Just remembered why they became so fashionable: Being shorter they meant that a room looked larger to the eye and yet remained practical for cups etc. Especially useful in flats or smaller premises.
@@stewedfishproductions7959 Yes this was early 70s too, I remember sitting at the coffee table to eat my tea in front of the tv, I think my mum still has that table, all I remember the table was used for is cups of tea, feet and putting the tv guide and newspapers under, but never coffee lol, though I do remember my Grandparents having a taller table but not it being called anything even a tea table, always assumed it was a coffee table.
@@will4may175 👍
No beer was the poor man’s drink
Most of the power of the wind is transferred to the hull through the rigging not the mast a sailing ship has two types of rigging halyards and stays a halyard is live rigging a rope which is attached to a moving part of the sail or spar which then passes through various blocks to change direction before ending at the waist the middle of the top deck where it is hauled by the "waisters" usually the largest strongest but least skilled crewmen to adjust the sails then you have the standing rigging or stays these are static ropes anchoring the masts at several points back down to the hull to prevent the masts being bent too far and breaking the masts job is to hold the sails up not transferring power.
HSBC are a top 10 international bank headquartered in London and operating in 80 territories globally. I see them all over America, Asia and Europe.
Grew up in Dumbarton where the Cutty Sark was built.
.
HSBC - the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Originally started in British Hong Kong and now the second-largest bank in Europe.
The Hong Kong and Shanghi Banking Corporation - since it's the sky line of the city of London the fact she can see the headquarters of one of the world's biggest banks (which you really should have heard of!) is not surprising.
9:50 The cutters did not go through the Suez Canal. They would have needed tugs through the canal, I'm sure that could have been arranged, but more problematic they would have had to sail up the Red Sea, which is straight, narrow, and full of reefs: a nightmare for a sailing ship (but no problem for a steamer).
I have today just finished the last ( complete) book of 20 by Patrick O`Brian, in the Aubrey and Maturin series. Fiction and based on the British Navy from about 1802 to 1816, he researched the books from original ship`s logs at Greenwich and other books on the subject i.e N. Rodger`s book The Wooden World .I picked up some interesting facts for example at one point the Captain calls for LESS sail ,as too much puts the bows under water and reduces speed .Again to get more speed the sails are wetted to make them more resistant to the wind. I guess a lot of the expertise of the Captains of these sailing vessels was trial and error. I`m still absorbing much of the factual stuff from the books.
Thank you, I will add to my reading list.
@@mehitabel6564 Enjoy!
Cape Horn around bottom of South America...Cape of Good Hope around bottom of South Africa. Roaring 40s & further south into the Screaming 60s. Massive waves as there are no land masses to break them up.
Had a few school trips to the Cutty Sark...next to it in Greenwich is the Gypsy Moth...Sir Francis Chichester's round the world little Yacht
Oh and the suez canal was opened in 1869 and construction started in 1859
No idea how I managed to fall down the reaction "rabbit hole":) but another interesting video, thank you! They're interesting and relaxing, and great when you're sleepy- like hanging out with a friend but without the emotional commitment of having to answer haha
I suggest you look at the "Golden Hind" the design of which gave England the edge against the Spanish Armada.
Good video. Check out the story of longtitude and a genius named Harrison who invented the marine chronometer and solved the problem. Its why the prime meridian runs through Greenwich London . Check out the saying ship shape and Bristol fashion. Today it means neat and tidy everything in its place. It's origin is a way of arranging sails .
Coffee and tea arrived in Britain, around the same time, mid 17 century.. But when the East India Company got involved, there was always gonna be 1 winner
The Cape of good hope goes around Africa and Cape horn goes round the southern tip of Chile 👍🏼
Connor, I was born in Greenwich and am living there now. Come to Greenwich… pub crawl and a visit to the Cutty Sark. One of the best historic places in London. Also about every modern movie filmed in “old days” was done here. Let’s go, mate!
Even got to watch a live performance by Bill Bailey underneath.
As a small child my family lived for a while in Blackheath and we would often go to Greenwich. Loved seeing the Cutty Sark to a 6 year old it was massive and beautiful. Mind you i also loved the park and the meridian line for me to was fasinating having one foot in the West the other in th East.
Once again wonderful video
HSBC is a British invetment bank (HSBC) Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
I think that even into the 1920s and maybe 1940s sail ships were used to deliver grain from Australia to the UK. They were slower than oil fired ships but ( and I'm not an expert on this) grain had to be stored for a while after harvesting before it could be processed into flower. The slower wind powered grain ships allowed the ship to serve as both transport and storage and thus avoid warehousing costs in the UK because the grain achieved the necessary ageing in transit.
All the other comments people have made about not requiring any storage space for fuel and no overhead from fuel costs also apply, so taking into account all of that the sail ships were cheaper per tonne of grain delivered from Australia to the UK.
I have a feeling that changes in the processing of grain into flower killed off the need for ageing the grain and thus combined with the rising cost of labour and the improving cargo capacity of bulk carriers took away the sale ships economic edge and removed them from active commercial service.
I love the History Hit channel, but in terms of ships, there's a series on Amazon Prime called The World's Greatest ships. The presenter is really passionate and gives you a better backstory.
The clipper design was an American invention of the late 18th Century from the East coast. I think it was particularly associated with the port of Baltimore. They were for rapid transport of high value cargo from the Caribbean.
Wallace "Jumped" overboard", yeah right! I'll bet nobody saw it either.
love your enthusiasim
World wind patterns are reliable in the more northerly and southern latitudes, with strong, regular and fairly predictable 'trade winds', but in some parts of the tropics they are less so, resulting in 'the Doldrums' where sail ships can be becalmed, which could be a big problem with perishable cargoes. Steam ships are not affected by this. Many early steam ships also had sails to save costs, but were presumably more trouble than they were worth and abandoned.
QUOTE........Coffee came to England in the mid-17th century
According to Samuel Pepys, England's first coffee house was established in Oxford in 1650 at The Angel in the parish of St Peter in the east, by a Jewish gentleman named Jacob, in the building now known as The Grand Cafe...UNQUOTE.
Loyd's of London (Insurance) started its life in a Coffee shop in London back then.
The Cutty Sark was almost completely destroyed by a devastating fire a few years ago. It has undergone a lot of restoration. If you watch the London Marathon this year, you'll see the runners go round this ship.....very soon after the race starts.
nelsons flag ship is a masterpiece, skill with hand tools is incredible
You should take a look at Admiral Nelsons ship HMS Victory firing a broadside in Portsmouth harbour, and imagine how the French felt .
When you raised the issue of punishment on the ship remember this was a merchant ship not a Royal navy ship where the crew were subject the the Articles of War since the 1650's. An alleged murderer would face a court-martial and if found guilty we would be hanged from the yardarm. On a merchant ship I guess the responsibility lay with the local jurisdiction where the incident occurred.
HSBC is the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, formerly The Midland Bank. As Midland it was an English bank but is now fully international.
Connor there are some youtube channels out there that are building wooden sailing boats Acorn to Arabella , or Sampson boat co to name a couple they are smaller boats but the method is still the same.
I love any old buildings,cars,clothes etc I find it fascinating. Look at an old building and wonder how many people have walked on the floors and cooked a meal in the old times. Just look at the ship it must have been a fantastic thing to look at close up.
Cutty Sark Vs Thermopylae. The two greatest clippers. Cutty Sark ended up a museum ship in Greenwich, The Thermopylae sold off to the Portuguese Navy and eventually sunk by them in a gun fire test.
Rigging as demonstrated on Cutty Sark was well established in the 17th century
The painting at 3:18 seems a bit fantastic. A ship would only carry this much sail when there was little wind, and you wanted to catch as much as possible of whatever wind there was. Yet, the waves looks like there is a pretty stiff blow going on. Especially the studding sails on each side seems unbelievable. Masts and spars could be broken off, or too high press on the sails would bog the bow down in the waves and actually slow the ship down.
I wish Drachinifel would do a video on sailship rigging history. In the age of sail, Navy ships would often be faster, because they would carry enough crew to mount extra sails, like top gallants and royal top gallants over the top sails. A merchant vessel would make do with as little crew as possible to not cut into the profits of the journey. I suppose that in the later 19th century, the supremacy of the Royal Navy had made sea lanes safer, and the speed of these ship also meant that crews could concentrate wholly on the rigging and not worry about manning guns for defense. I don't know if there were any technological advance that made it possible for a ship like this to carry not only coursers and top sails, but also top gallants, royals, sky sails and moon sails. To have crew enough to man all that rigging would only make sense if the speed achieved would garner enough extra income to make it profitable.
Check out Chatham dock yard in Kent.
The base of the mast is made of steel and runs all the way down into the bowel of the ship from the upper deck, that not only strengthens the mast but keeps the ship stable on the ocean. I made a few of them for private yachts when i worked for a company in Glasgow (the city that incidentally at it's peak built 80% of the worlds ships, Glasgow built the majority of the clipper ships in the world)
Funny how that ship ran on wind power and today we are still looking at getting energy from wind power.
When I was young I had a school trip to visit the cutty sark
The main things I remember was the size of the masts comperd to the ship itself.
But above all the figurehead ,she is a witch holding a horses tail chasing tam o shanter from the Burns poem
*Well done cutty sark" Robert Burns.
Check out the American clipper ships. Raced around the horn to San Francisco from Boston. Also did the China trade. "Flying Cloud " comes to mind. Faster than the English ships!
Slightly off-kilter, but my father was in the merchant navy and was went to school on the HMS Conway.
Yeah we had coffee early on, it wasnt alien to us, but VERY expensive. Brittain had full control of their tea supply after stealing the plants from China and planting them just over the border in India, which at the time was part of our empire.
Coffee would have been traded at great cost.
The city was full of coffee houses where deals wete struck in pypes time
Hiya ..saw your reaction to the Cutty Sark ….you obviously have a lot of questions in your quest to learn more about history ….try this ( sorry it’s a long video …but think it will give you all the information you need to know about the R.N.L.I. (Royal National Lifeboat Institute ..( a Charity) …in some of the roughest seas in the world our coastguards …are volunteers …..video for you to react to The History of the RNLI. “Hero’s Of The Sea”
HSBC - (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) - London Headquarters Building. They have banks throughout the UK. EDIT: Meant to add, it's the building with what looks like a pyramid for it's roof !
They bank around the world, not just the UK!
@@revbenf6870 I realise that, it was just for Connor's info that it's a major bank in the UK. LOL ! 😃
@@stewedfishproductions7959 Fair enough, I get you.
Cutty Sark means short petticoat. The figurehead shows a woman in a short shift.
look into Isambard Kingdom Brunel ship the SS Great Eastern for Victorian engineering
Some of your questions have already been answered above, so I'll go a step or two further.
The masts of sailing ships were generally rooted to the keel, and obviously were secured at each deck as it rose up. The guy ropes secured the mast at several different heights to the ship's rails. The climbing rope-ladders were known as shrouds. Today, many of these are synthetic, while the originals were mainly hemp. The majority waere fastened bu cleats or belaying pins.
I would highly recommend you to look at the 30-minute vids on "Climbing the mast." this was an annual voluntary exercise performed by trained recruits to the Royal Navy. Twenty-or-so of these youngsters from about twelve up the age of (I think) sixteen. They would take one step at a time, in time with the musical beat until they reached the limit, whereupon they would spread out to each side, while the "Button Boy" (or girl) would continue to the absolute pinnacle of the mast and stand on the top!! Once the exercise was finished they would each slide down the rope to the ground, with the Button Boy being the last down from 65-70 feet! The most famous of these was HMS Ganges - a land-based mast in the training depot.
Unfortunately it is not done any more, but the videos still exist, and are worth watching.
To go through the processes of old to modern ships, you could start with the Cutty Sark in London, the progress to HMS Victory (Nelson's Flagship), to HMS Warrior, Britain's first ironclad which fought at the American Civil War (both these ships ar in Southampton). Finally, you could visit the first Propellor-driven steamship ship SS Great Britain in Bristol. To finish the tour, you could also visit HMS Belfast, moored near Tower Bridge, London. HMS Belfast was the Command Ship during the Normandy Landings.
If you had and extra day and a few spare ££'s, a quick flight to Belfast City Airport, will take to within a mile of HMS Caroline, the only survivng battleship (Light Cruiser) from the famous Battle of Jutland - which was also the greatest naval engagement of all time! This particulat visit would also include the Titanic Quarter, where you can vivs the original dry dock and pumphouse, as well the amazing "Titanic Experience" now drawing more than 100 international cruise ships every year.
Hope this helps.
HMS Victory and HMS Warrior are most definitely not in Southampton! They are both in Portsmouth. I have visited them there a few times… 🤔😬👍🇬🇧👀
@@barryhumphries4514 You're absolutely right, Barry! I must have had a brain malfunction - the result of old age I guess. Thanks for putting it right.
If you enjoyed this, try and find Tom Cunnliffe's "The Boats that built Britain", I think it's on youtube. Large mug of proper tea per episode recommended!
youll
coffee came first as was eing drunk in the discussions of blowing up the houses of Parliament buy guy fauks and his accomplices way before tea was available to the masses, tea was expensive. tea that got to London first got the highest prices on the markets so speed back from Asia was paramount
HSBC is an international bank.