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Historic Attractions

The Historic Cutty Sark Set On Fire?

May 21, 2007 at 2:43 PM | 0 Comments

The Cutty Sark, a 138-year-old ship considered the last tea clipper in the world, caught on fire this morning while sitting in Greenwich harbor and sustained major damages. Restoration architects are currently looking over the ships remains, hoping that rebuilding is an option. The Cutty Sark Trust said it was still assessing the extent of the damage, but promised to rebuild the ship. The boat, a major tourist attraction in London since it docked for good in 1954, was in the middle of renovations and set to reopen in 2009.

In the days before Qantas, the Cutty Sark was one of the fastest boats running between the U.K. and Australia, and also made runs to (of course) China. It even inspired a brand of Scotch. The fire is being treated as suspicious, according to reports, because of the size of the boat.

Half the ship's timbers had been removed for renovation before the fire. The figurehead, masts and ship's wheel were not damaged.

For now, you can get a closer look by hopping a Thames cruise and seeing this piece of history -- or, sadly, what is left -- from the water.

To get more information on the ships daunting coming rebuild, or to support the The Cutty Sark Trust, go here.

[Photo: ridgway]

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