0:00:03 > 0:00:07The River Clyde, Scotland's most iconic waterway.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Today, it's a bustling commercial hub.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14And 150 years ago,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17this was the beating heart of an industrial revolution.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23And fuelling it were its shipyards.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31'I'm David Hayman and I grew up surrounded by those yards
0:00:31 > 0:00:33'and the magnificent ships they produced.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But it's where they went, what they did
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and the lives they touched that's always fascinated me.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'In this series, I'm going to uncover the secrets of the great
0:00:46 > 0:00:51'ships that laid the foundations of today's Commonwealth of Nations.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56'It's a journey that's going to take me around the world to tell
0:00:56 > 0:01:01'incredible stories and unearth extraordinary characters.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:08If you want to know why Britannia ruled the waves
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and where the Commonwealth was born, look no further than here.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32In the early hours of 21 May, 2007,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35a fire broke out in London's Greenwich Docklands.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37FIRE BELL RINGS
0:01:37 > 0:01:39SIREN WAILS
0:01:39 > 0:01:42As the emergency services arrived,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45it became clear that this was no ordinary incident.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48The 19th-century tea clipper, the Cutty Sark, is on fire.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Ablaze was one of the most iconic ships in British maritime
0:01:54 > 0:01:57history and the news made headlines around the world.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08And this was the ship - the Cutty Sark, probably the most famous
0:02:08 > 0:02:12ship in the world and, certainly to me, one of the most beautiful.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16As a boy, I found a painting of her in a flea market
0:02:16 > 0:02:19and it hung on my wall for years.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22As an inspiration, she had over 20 sails,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25probably miles and miles of rigging.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27She must have seemed like something out of the future,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29like an ocean-going sports car.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34And there's a lot more to this old clipper than just looks.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36No!
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'Hers is a wonderful story of adventure, of speed,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44'record-breaking, mutiny, murder...
0:02:45 > 0:02:48'..success and even shame.'
0:02:49 > 0:02:53This ship was destined to carve her name in the books of history.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And all this was driven by one man's dream of creating
0:03:00 > 0:03:03the fastest ship the world had ever seen.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08His name was John Willis and that obsession resulted in a ship that
0:03:08 > 0:03:12would shape new nations, change many lives
0:03:12 > 0:03:14and destroy a few as well.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16My feeling is that a great
0:03:16 > 0:03:18miscarriage of justice took place here.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21One thing's for sure -
0:03:21 > 0:03:25the Cutty Sark does not owe her longevity to a quiet life,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29for her stories are the stuff of myth and legend,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and I'm going to explore her legacy and find out what brought her
0:03:32 > 0:03:37here, to her final resting place, at Greenwich in the heart of London.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45But it's a tale that begins not in London
0:03:45 > 0:03:47but back in my home town of Glasgow.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57The 19th century was a transformative time for the city.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Scotland and England were flourishing with free trade,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and by the 1850s, Clydeside was a key commercial hub as merchants
0:04:08 > 0:04:13made a fortune from the import of goods like tobacco and sugar.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21Shipbuilding had grown up and developed alongside business,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23and that sexy combination made Glasgow
0:04:23 > 0:04:29and Clydeside a great world centre for wooden boat-building.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Then came the revolution that was iron.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Plentiful local resources of coal and ironstone meant that the River
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Clyde was better placed than any other to develop iron shipbuilding.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56By the mid-1800s, there were over 30 Clydeside yards,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59making 80% of the world's big ships.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It was a golden maritime age, but a highly competitive one that
0:05:06 > 0:05:09didn't have much room for renegade designers.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Until, that is, someone came along who would change all that...
0:05:20 > 0:05:21..Hercules Linton.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25He was simply one of the brightest young minds of his generation,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28a man way ahead of his time.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30He wasn't just interested in building any old boat.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34He wanted to build them strong and make them beautiful.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41It was a design instinct that was clearly in the blood.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Born to a successful ship's carpenter in 1837,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Linton was immersed in the craft of boat-building at an early age.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57At 18, he was one of the youngest apprentice
0:05:57 > 0:06:00draughtsmen in the business when he joined Alexander Hall
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and Sons, Britain's most prestigious shipping firm.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Even as a teenage apprentice, he was beginning to build
0:06:09 > 0:06:13a reputation for himself as a very talented designer.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19And by 1868, this exceptional young man started his own shipyard over
0:06:19 > 0:06:23there, that unassuming piece of land on the banks of the River Clyde.
0:06:25 > 0:06:31Hercules joined forces with local engineer William Scott and together,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Scott & Linton was about to create the most famous ship in the world.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41'Clyde shipbuilding was a cut-throat business in the 1860s
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'and Hercules had been forced to sell everything he had,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47'just to buy his yard in the first place.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49'He desperately needed orders.'
0:06:52 > 0:06:56And he was about to get one from the most ruthless businessman around.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04John Willis was a wealthy Scotsman from a powerful maritime family.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09'His father had been a celebrated captain who set up his own
0:07:09 > 0:07:11'successful shipping company,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14'and Willis was destined to follow in the family business.'
0:07:16 > 0:07:20So old "White Hat" Willis, as he was commonly called,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24he spent many years at sea well into his 30s, building a fairly
0:07:24 > 0:07:27formidable reputation as a merchant sea captain.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30But then, on the death of his father,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34he inherited a shipping line and a fleet of clippers.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39He soon built up a fierce reputation as a canny
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and very scrupulous businessman.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45But there was one commodity that got him
0:07:45 > 0:07:49more excited than anything else - this stuff. Tea.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Tea was huge business in the 19th century.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Free trade had ended the East India Company's monopoly on sales
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and the result was a huge explosion in demand.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07It used to be the preserve of the rich and the privileged,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09but then it took off and became a working man's drink.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Millions of us began to consume it, so it was big business.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20And this business created a lively sea trade between Britain and China.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22And, of course, due to the competitive nature of man, the
0:08:22 > 0:08:26tea races were born - who could get the tea back to Britain quickest?
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Old "White Hat" Willis desperately wanted a piece of that action,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36but the only way he could get it was to build a clipper fast
0:08:36 > 0:08:37enough to beat everyone else.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43So when he heard about a new shipyard
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and a talented young designer called Hercules Linton, Willis had
0:08:47 > 0:08:51surely found the perfect place to build his Cutty Sark.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00In January 1869, Scott & Linton
0:09:00 > 0:09:03were commissioned by Captain John Willis to build
0:09:03 > 0:09:06a fine line clipper ship that would challenge for supremacy
0:09:06 > 0:09:08in the tea races.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Linton had landed the biggest contract of his life,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20and to make sure it would deliver, he had a trick up his sleeve.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27Now, young Hercules, he was a smart kid
0:09:27 > 0:09:32and he was part of a new generation of shipbuilders and ship designers.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36And what they wanted to do was use new cutting-edge techniques in their
0:09:36 > 0:09:40approach to the construction of ships, such as the Cutty Sark.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Linton's genius was to use both wood and iron.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52His composite construction consisted of a wrought iron framework
0:09:52 > 0:09:54onto which wooden planks were bolted.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01'I'm meeting maritime historian Eric Kentley to find out
0:10:01 > 0:10:05'more about this revolutionary approach to ship design.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The great advantage of an iron ship, of course, is that its frames
0:10:08 > 0:10:11are very, very narrow, so you're going to get far more...
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- And stronger.- And stronger.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16But you can get far more cargo inside the ship than you can
0:10:16 > 0:10:19on a wooden ship, whereas you know they have great big wooden beams.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23So, around 1860, someone came up with the brilliant idea of, well,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26let's have a wooden ship but let's make the framework of iron
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and let's make it absolutely rigid so it's as strong as a bridge,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and that will give us the advantages of both.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Composite construction was born.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38That really was clever and way ahead of its time, wasn't it?
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Well, you still find composite vessels today,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45still used as a technique in some very fast yachts
0:10:45 > 0:10:49because it does combine the nice flexibility of a wooden hull
0:10:49 > 0:10:51with that rigidity of the framework.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57With this hull design and innovative shape,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Hercules Linton was designing a truly ground-breaking ship.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07But all of this was to come at a cost as the Cutty Sark's
0:11:07 > 0:11:09owner began to flex his muscles.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17John Willis might have been a successful shipowner
0:11:17 > 0:11:21but to many, he was also a ruthless businessman.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24He knew that Linton's fledgling company were in dire
0:11:24 > 0:11:29need of work, a fact that allowed Willis to drive a very hard bargain.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36He would use his contract to enforce a long list of exacting
0:11:36 > 0:11:40specifications on everything from quality material to craftsmanship...
0:11:43 > 0:11:47..all of which would make delivery of the Cutty Sark on budget
0:11:47 > 0:11:49virtually impossible.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56As work started in February 1869,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59these contractual details would come to haunt Linton.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Willis dispatched his own team to scrutinise every
0:12:02 > 0:12:04aspect of his build.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11And that meant that anything that had the slightest flaw or
0:12:11 > 0:12:15even the smallest blemish was rejected.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Everything had to be produced to the most exacting standards.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Now, on top of that,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28harsh financial penalties were also enforced every time
0:12:28 > 0:12:32a deadline was missed and that resulted in our young genius,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Hercules Linton, ending up deep in debt.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43'And documents recently discovered suggest that Willis was certainly in
0:12:43 > 0:12:48'no mood to bail him out, thanks to one killer clause in the contract.'
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Willis had stipulated that if Linton went under, completion
0:12:55 > 0:12:59of the Cutty Sark would pass to another yard just across the river.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Old "White Hat" was building the best
0:13:07 > 0:13:10ship in the world at a knock-down price.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12And with someone else on stand-by to pick up the pieces
0:13:12 > 0:13:15if it all went wrong, he had the perfect backup plan.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24'I've come to meet Robin Denny, whose family owned that neighbouring
0:13:24 > 0:13:27'yard, to find out more about what Willis was up to.'
0:13:29 > 0:13:33"White Hat" Willis certainly...
0:13:33 > 0:13:38He knew that they desperately wanted the contract and therefore,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42he could virtually demand his own price.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46- And altogether, they just couldn't cope with it.- What a shame!
0:13:46 > 0:13:49So his dreams were almost shattered at that stage, weren't they?
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Young Linton's dreams, I mean.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55It must have been horrific for him, yes. The poor chap!
0:13:55 > 0:14:00He must have thought, "I've got myself into it. Where do I go now?"
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Old "White Hat" Willis,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05you think he had a master plan from the very, very beginning?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Did he attempt to destroy that yard?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12I'm not sure he wanted to destroy them
0:14:12 > 0:14:16but he certainly knew they were really keen, if not desperate.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19He had Linton and Scott over a barrel, didn't he?
0:14:19 > 0:14:20Oh, yes, yes, yes.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24He was a pretty hard businessman
0:14:24 > 0:14:28and he was out to benefit himself.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32If anyone else got in the way, that was a bit unfortunate.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38'Whatever Willis's motivation, the fact was that Scott & Linton
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'were forced out of business.'
0:14:42 > 0:14:46What Willis did next was to take control of the building
0:14:46 > 0:14:50of the Cutty Sark from Linton's wood yard at the other side of the river,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54at the foot of Dumbarton Rock, and give it to this side, Denny's yard.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03By the time the Cutty Sark was ready to be launched in late 1869,
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Linton was destitute and Willis's ruthlessness had made him
0:15:08 > 0:15:09a much hated figure.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17A Clydeside ship launch was normally a cause for great celebration
0:15:17 > 0:15:20but for the Cutty Sark, it was anything but.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30I'm hoping that local librarian Sam Moore can tell me
0:15:30 > 0:15:31more about that day.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37"On Monday afternoon there was launched from the shipbuilding
0:15:37 > 0:15:41"yard of Messrs Scott & Linton, a handsome composite clipper ship.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44"The Cutty Sark is intended for the China tea trade,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47"and is expected by her owners to be one of the fastest ships
0:15:47 > 0:15:49"engaged in that traffic."
0:15:49 > 0:15:51You know, for such an iconic ship,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54she'd a very inauspicious launch, didn't she?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56She did, but there were many ships on the Clyde that were
0:15:56 > 0:15:59launched within that short period of time
0:15:59 > 0:16:00and there are many reasons for it -
0:16:00 > 0:16:02the amount of ships that were launched,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05but also, at that time,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07there may have been a bit of friction between Mr Willis,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12who had the ship built, and Scott & Linton, the designers,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and Denny, who eventually finished the ship.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Denny must've been annoyed that he was left with a ship to
0:16:18 > 0:16:21finish off and at the end of the day it was, get the ship,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24get it out there, get it to Greenock and finished.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26I want paid and I want my men back to be able to continue
0:16:26 > 0:16:29the jobs that they're being paid to do for him,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32not for Scott & Linton, at the end of the day.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'But in the very same paper that marked the Cutty Sark's
0:16:35 > 0:16:37'launch there was another article...
0:16:39 > 0:16:43'..one that told of a landmark event that was about to have a
0:16:43 > 0:16:46'catastrophic impact on this little clipper.'
0:16:48 > 0:16:51"Opening of the Suez Canal,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55"commenced by religious ceremonies in the open air, great enthusiasm
0:16:55 > 0:16:57"prevailed."
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Now, this is an extraordinary piece of synchronicity
0:17:01 > 0:17:04because on the day that the Dumbarton Herald announced
0:17:04 > 0:17:06the launching of the Cutty Sark,
0:17:06 > 0:17:12she also announced the opening of the Suez Canal. Suez Canal?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15That innocuous name alluded to an extraordinary
0:17:15 > 0:17:18piece of Victorian engineering that was going to prove to be
0:17:18 > 0:17:22a dagger at the heart of the beautiful Cutty Sark.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Built to facilitate the British Empire's burgeoning trade
0:17:27 > 0:17:31links with Asia, by linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34the Suez Canal changed everything,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38cutting over 12 days of the average voyage from London to China.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Whilst it was very easy for a steamship to make her
0:17:46 > 0:17:49way along this newly opened waterway,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52the prevailing winds in the Red Sea meant it was well-nigh
0:17:52 > 0:17:55impossible for a clipper ship to do the same.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00And to make matters worse, the steamers could carry almost
0:18:00 > 0:18:04twice as much cargo as a clipper and at half the crew costs.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09So affording the canal toll fees was easy for steam
0:18:09 > 0:18:11but impossible for sail...
0:18:12 > 0:18:16..meaning that the clipper had to stick to the long route to China.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23The impact of the Suez Canal on sail would not be an immediate
0:18:23 > 0:18:28one as many merchants had invested heavily in their clipper freights.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30But the writing was certainly on the wall.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38The grand opening of the Suez Canal must have been a seriously
0:18:38 > 0:18:41unsettling omen for what lay ahead.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46But for now, for the Cutty Sark, she only had her eyes on one prize
0:18:46 > 0:18:48- victory in the tea races.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53John Willis had his new ship.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Now he planned to use it to dominate the biggest industry in the world.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05As she sets sail on her maiden voyage in February 1870 to
0:19:05 > 0:19:10collect her first cargo, tea was a massive colonial industry
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and merchants were desperate for their multimillion pound hauls.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'The tea races that this demand inspired became
0:19:20 > 0:19:23'legendary as huge bonuses were paid to the first ship to dock
0:19:23 > 0:19:26'back in London with the new season's crop.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33'The sprint for the finish line captured the imagination of
0:19:33 > 0:19:37'the British public who began to bet on which ship would arrive first.'
0:19:39 > 0:19:44This advert is a brilliant example of how frenzied the competition was.
0:19:44 > 0:19:45It reads,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48"Great race of the tea ships with the first new season's teas.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51"The Taeping and the Ariel have arrived, with others in close
0:19:51 > 0:19:55"pursuit, with something like £45 million of new tea on board,"
0:19:55 > 0:19:58half a year's consumption for the United Kingdom.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05The stakes were high and the Cutty Sark was about to make
0:20:05 > 0:20:09a name for herself in one of the most infamous races of all.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13The ship was placed under
0:20:13 > 0:20:17the captaincy of Scotsman George Moodie, a highly experienced
0:20:17 > 0:20:21merchant skipper who had helmed many of the ships in John Willis's fleet.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Now he was to take charge of his flagship clipper.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Her first two tea voyages were highly profitable but unmemorable.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36The Cutty Sark was delivering £1 million profits
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and a lasting colonial trade link with Asia for its owner.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43But what Willis really wanted was to be the fastest.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50And that meant beating the Cutty Sark's main competitor -
0:20:50 > 0:20:54the Thermopylae, another fine Scottish-built clipper,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57legendary for being the quickest ship on the open seas.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Willis had the Thermopylae
0:21:02 > 0:21:07and her already established formidable reputation in his sights.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11And then, in 1872, he had his first chance to beat her.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17'Laden with their precious tea,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22'the ships raced out of Shanghai Harbour together in June 1872,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24'en route to London,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27'both desperate to claim the prize of being first to port.'
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The two ships were neck and neck but as they raced
0:21:32 > 0:21:36into the Indian Ocean, something remarkable happened.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41The Cutty Sark, with her beautifully sleek racing lines,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45began to show off, began to do what she was built for.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51'As Captain Moodie cast the little clipper's huge sail rig,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54'she pulled away from the Thermopylae with ease.'
0:21:56 > 0:22:00"With strong winds, the Cutty Sark's great power at once began to tell,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04"and she went romping ahead with three consecutive runs.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06"The two racers would not meet again."
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The Cutty Sark was performing exactly as Hercules Linton
0:22:11 > 0:22:15had designed her to, but that incredible ocean-going speed...
0:22:17 > 0:22:19..was not just down to her innovative shape.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25It was also down to that other unique design feature
0:22:25 > 0:22:31incorporated by Hercules Linton - this stuff, Muntz metal.
0:22:33 > 0:22:39Muntz was a new alloy created in the mid-1800s, made up of copper,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41zinc and iron.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43It was discovered that the copper was able to leach out
0:22:43 > 0:22:45when in contact with water
0:22:45 > 0:22:49and poison anything that tried to attach itself.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53This incredible protective quality made it perfect for shipping.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Hercules decided to use this Muntz metal as a sheathing,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05an outer skin, round the Cutty Sark.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12And that proved to be a very effective idea because no barnacles,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16no seaweed, therefore more power, more speed and more profit.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17The boy was a genius!
0:23:21 > 0:23:25This combination of sheathing and her unique hull design proved
0:23:25 > 0:23:28to be a potent one in her famous race with the Thermopylae.
0:23:31 > 0:23:38The lead she built up in that voyage in 1872 was so damn impressive!
0:23:38 > 0:23:39I mean, she proved, beyond doubt, that she
0:23:39 > 0:23:41was the fastest ship in the ocean.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46But as captain Moodie raced his clipper around the tip
0:23:46 > 0:23:52of South Africa in pursuit of the big seas, he encountered
0:23:52 > 0:23:55the wrath of the very oceans that gave the Cutty Sark her speed.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Hurricane force winds battered the clipper for five days
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and eventually, as the gales and high seas pounded the ship,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07disaster struck.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10"A heavy sea broke under the stern of the ship
0:24:10 > 0:24:14"and struck the rudder, ripping it from its lifeboats
0:24:14 > 0:24:16"and carrying it away from the trunk downwards.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19"We soon found that we could not steer the ship."
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Without her rudder, the Cutty Sark was effectively crippled, and in a
0:24:26 > 0:24:30force 10 gale, it was only a matter of time before she would capsize.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38So Captain Moodie had a major dilemma on his hands.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Somehow, he and his crew had to build a replacement
0:24:41 > 0:24:47rudder at sea or face the complete loss of his ship with all hands.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53A makeshift forge was set up on deck
0:24:53 > 0:24:57and the ship's carpenter got to work on a temporary rudder.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02"Constructing a new rudder on sternpost was a difficult job
0:25:02 > 0:25:05"as there was a good deal of sea on.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08"The difficulty now was getting the rudder in place
0:25:08 > 0:25:11"as the ship rolled in strong winds and heavy seas."
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Eric, it is only when you stand next to this incredible rudder that
0:25:23 > 0:25:25you truly get a sense of the scale,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28of the challenge facing those seamen.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Not only do you have to construct a wooden rudder from bits of spar,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35bits of timber, old replacement planking,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39anything you can find, to carve something roughly that shape,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42you actually have to make all these fittings to actually hang
0:25:42 > 0:25:44it off the stern of the ship.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48The only way to do that is to set up a temporary forge on the deck.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51You can imagine what that would have been like,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53with hot, burning coals on a deck
0:25:53 > 0:25:55- that is rolling backwards and forwards.- And molten metal.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56And molten metal.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59And you can imagine that the inevitable did happen.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02At least once, the whole thing went over.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04And unfortunately, it did catch several people,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08including one of the apprentices, who was the son of the captain.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Was it less or more of a challenge than actually building
0:26:11 > 0:26:12another rudder at sea?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15If it had been my decision, I would have probably chickened out
0:26:15 > 0:26:18- and I would have headed for Port Elizabeth.- I'd be in your gang.
0:26:18 > 0:26:19Honest, Cap'n.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Captain Moodie's decision to build a replacement rudder at sea
0:26:26 > 0:26:28had been a bold one.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30But it would cost him dearly.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35His son was permanently disfigured by the forge accident
0:26:35 > 0:26:39and his ship was about to be overtaken by her archrival.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44The Thermopylae had passed the stricken clipper
0:26:44 > 0:26:48off the South African coast and forged 500 miles ahead...
0:26:50 > 0:26:54..eventually reaching London nine days before her.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Back home, the race had been lost,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59but as far as the British public were concerned,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03the real victory belonged to the Cutty Sark.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09News of the exploits of Captain Moodie and his crew
0:27:09 > 0:27:11spread like wildfire.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13They became heroes,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16not only because of their incredible seamanship
0:27:16 > 0:27:19but also due to their extraordinary courage
0:27:19 > 0:27:24in the pursuit of British trade...and pride.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32The clipper might have been forging lasting trade links with new
0:27:32 > 0:27:36parts of the world, but the sail ship was rapidly becoming
0:27:36 > 0:27:38an outdated mode of transport.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Steam was now the dominant force in the tea runs.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45This was a crisis.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50To put that crisis in context, imagine it this way.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52On her maiden voyage to China,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57the Cutty Sark brought back 500 tonnes of black tea.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02That's enough to fill 580 million of these little things -
0:28:02 > 0:28:03tea bags.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07But by the time of her fifth voyage six years later,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10that cargo had been cut by half.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The reality was that steamships could carry twice
0:28:17 > 0:28:21the amount of tea and could get to port in half the time of sail.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29The Cutty Sark was only three years old but already a relic.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Captain Moodie knew it and abandoned ship to join the steamer fleets.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41But old "White Hat" Willis refused to accept reality.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43He obviously had great determination as a man.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47And he wanted to prove that his flagship clipper could
0:28:47 > 0:28:49actually pay for itself.
0:28:50 > 0:28:51That's a tall order.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Ironically, demand for tea had never been greater,
0:28:59 > 0:29:04but for the Cutty Sark, it was clear that her tea running days were over.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Commerce had rendered her redundant and the little clipper
0:29:08 > 0:29:12was about to set sail on the darkest chapter in her story -
0:29:12 > 0:29:16a series of terrible voyages spanning half a decade that
0:29:16 > 0:29:20would become known as the hell ship years.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33The Cutty Sark began tramping -
0:29:33 > 0:29:36the rather unflattering term given to ships that would wander
0:29:36 > 0:29:40the world's ports picking up whatever rogue cargoes they could.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47And the reputation of a tramping ship was an unenviable one.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57Nobody, absolutely nobody, wanted to work on a tramping ship.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00It was like being a beggar of the sea.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02And the captains knew this.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07And they had to fill these bunks with sailors -
0:30:07 > 0:30:09two to a bunk, by the way -
0:30:09 > 0:30:12so they were forced to choose between all the vagabonds
0:30:12 > 0:30:14and rogues of the ocean,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16men of highly dubious character.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20The Cutty Sark's new captain,
0:30:20 > 0:30:21James Smith Wallace,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24had the unenviable job of skippering the clipper
0:30:24 > 0:30:26in these circumstances.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28And he had his work cut out.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36For amongst his crew of 21 was a fiery first mate called
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Sydney "Bucko" Smith
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and a new deck hand named William Francis.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49And the thing is, William H Francis and "Bucko" Smith,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53the first mate, were destined never to be pals.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Some say they simply did not get along,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04whilst others claim the dislike was born of skin colour.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11For Francis was black and racism was commonplace.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13The result was trouble.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Smith and Francis' mutual loathing
0:31:19 > 0:31:23would come to a head on the 11th of July, 1880,
0:31:23 > 0:31:28when the ship was about a week short of the Indonesian port of Anyar.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30As chance would have it,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34Smith and Francis ended up on the same watch together.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36And according to official reports,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Smith gave Francis a direct order, which he disobeyed.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45What Smith attempted to do next was put Francis in shackles.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Francis, being equally quick of temper,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54retaliated and attacked his first mate with an iron bar.
0:31:56 > 0:31:57There was a short, sharp struggle
0:31:57 > 0:32:00while the "Bucko" mate gained possession of the bar.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Then it was the irate officer's turn,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04and without a moment's hesitation,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Smith brought it down on the man's head with such force that
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Francis dropped senseless to the deck.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Life aboard a 19th-century sailing ship must have been really hard.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24There were fallings out, tempers flared.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29So murder in those circumstances was not uncommon.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33But it was what happened next that makes this story truly remarkable.
0:32:37 > 0:32:38Smith was duly shackled
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and logged in his cabin as the ship made for port, where
0:32:42 > 0:32:46he would be tried for murder, as was normal in these circumstances.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49But as the Cutty Sark docked in Anyar,
0:32:49 > 0:32:54it became clear that Smith had mysteriously disappeared.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57The log details are surprisingly hazy.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02But rumours began to circulate that it was in fact the captain
0:33:02 > 0:33:04who had aided and abetted his first mate's escape.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Perhaps because he was sympathetic to the murder of a Negro.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Wallace, of course, pleaded ignorance,
0:33:16 > 0:33:17but his crew weren't listening
0:33:17 > 0:33:20because they all felt that he was complicit in the escape
0:33:20 > 0:33:25of a fugitive, and the result was inevitable - it was mutiny.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32The ship was reduced to just a handful of men who agreed to work.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35But the Cutty Sark's huge rig was almost impossible to operate
0:33:35 > 0:33:39with so few hands, and she quickly became becalmed.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Wallace knew that the way in which he had dealt with the Smith
0:33:46 > 0:33:49incident meant that he had lost the respect of his men
0:33:49 > 0:33:51and his short-lived captaincy was over.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59So in the early hours of September 4th, 1880,
0:33:59 > 0:34:01he jumped overboard to his death.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11But what became of the famous fugitive, Sydney Smith?
0:34:13 > 0:34:16I'm hoping genealogist Caroline Gurney will be able to shed
0:34:16 > 0:34:20some light on the Cutty Sark's greatest villain.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23Where did he go? What happened to him?
0:34:23 > 0:34:26He went over the side of the ship onto a boat,
0:34:26 > 0:34:28to an American ship called the Colorado.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Changed his name to John Anderson
0:34:32 > 0:34:36and then he sailed on American ships
0:34:36 > 0:34:38for about two years, on a variety of them,
0:34:38 > 0:34:43and eventually, in June, 1882, he came back into London
0:34:43 > 0:34:46on an American clipper into the South West India dock.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50And it was really unlucky for him because just a few weeks earlier,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53the crew of the Cutty Sark had finally come back
0:34:53 > 0:34:55from that hell ship voyage.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58So it was a member of the Cutty Sark crew who spotted him.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01It was several. They were in London, in the docks.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05I think he perhaps was talking too much in the pub one night.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07He was picked up and arrested
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and taken to the Thames Police Court in the docks.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14- That's what you call bad timing. - Absolutely appalling timing, yes.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20So justice finally caught up with Smith.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22He would go on to serve seven years in prison.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26"A number of witnesses deposed to his good character for humanity
0:35:26 > 0:35:28"and kindness of disposition."
0:35:29 > 0:35:33But Caroline's research suggests there might be another side
0:35:33 > 0:35:36to the character of Sydney "Bucko" Smith.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40What is your impression of him? Do you think he was a bad guy?
0:35:40 > 0:35:41Was he a good guy?
0:35:41 > 0:35:46I think there is slightly more nuance than perhaps
0:35:46 > 0:35:49the official record, if you like.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54When he left London in the Cutty Sark
0:35:54 > 0:35:56in May, 1880,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01he was signed on as first mate at a wage of seven pounds a month.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05And three pounds of that wage was given to his old mum.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09That's a slightly different image, isn't it, then that hard-bitten mate?
0:36:09 > 0:36:12There is a real sense of kind of familial duty there, yeah.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17I want to find out more about the Cutty Sark's infamous first mate.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23But back on board the hell ship years,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27it was 1880 and things were going from bad to worse.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Her crew had mutinied and their captain was now dead.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39What the Cutty Sark's owner, John Willis, must have been thinking
0:36:39 > 0:36:42when he received word of his flagship clipper's latest
0:36:42 > 0:36:44calamity, we can only imagine.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Willis chose a former first mate, William Bruce,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53to be the new captain of the Cutty Sark.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57He was a Christian, he was an evangelist,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00a man who loved his Bible and who lived by it
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and who preached it to his crews twice a day.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08So, a man of God had been put in charge of a ship from hell.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11You couldn't make it up!
0:37:16 > 0:37:20But would William Bruce prove to be the Cutty Sark's saviour?
0:37:21 > 0:37:25# You can run on for a long time. #
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Unfortunately, religion always came second to a drink
0:37:30 > 0:37:32for Captain Bruce.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34And that spelt disaster for the Cutty Sark.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41For almost two whole years,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45the Cutty Sark's alcoholic captain drifted aimlessly around
0:37:45 > 0:37:49the Pacific, looking at the world through a haze of prayer and booze.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Bad navigation by an intoxicated skipper
0:37:56 > 0:37:59nearly put the clipper onto the rocks.
0:37:59 > 0:38:00For a time,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Bruce navigated the Cutty Sark,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04plying his two senior officers with grog.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07Soon, they were beginning to starve.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12# Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down. #
0:38:12 > 0:38:16It had been exactly 706 days
0:38:16 > 0:38:18since the Cutty Sark had left London.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Her crew were dead on their feet,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25her captain was useless.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28There was no option, the authorities had to be informed.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32And what that meant was that one of Britain's great trading ships
0:38:32 > 0:38:34was out of business.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40When word of the Cutty Sark's latest calamity reached Willis,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42this debacle was the final straw.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47His flagship clipper had run to ruin.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Once the great trade pioneer,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55she was now the laughing stock of the maritime world.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06The Cutty Sark's darkest chapter had come to a terrible end,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10but genealogist Caroline Gurney has unearthed new information
0:39:10 > 0:39:14about its greatest villain - Sydney "Bucko" Smith.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22She has sent me to this Kent village to meet two people
0:39:22 > 0:39:24who may be able to shed new light on an old mystery.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30I'm Merle Carmichael, originally Merle Irene Smith,
0:39:30 > 0:39:34and I am Sydney William Smith's granddaughter.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38And I am John Sydney Smith, I am also a Sydney Smith
0:39:38 > 0:39:42and the Smith we are talking about was my grandfather.
0:39:42 > 0:39:43I had been hearing these wonderful,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47dastardly stories of Sydney "Bucko" Smith,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49who ruled the ocean with a rod of iron,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52and was eventually charged with
0:39:52 > 0:39:53the murder of a fellow seaman
0:39:53 > 0:39:56and sentenced to seven years hard labour.
0:39:57 > 0:39:58Is that the truth?
0:39:58 > 0:40:04Well, I was told by my father, who was also a master mariner,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06that it was in self-defence.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09And that it was manslaughter and not murder.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12My grandfather is always described as a bucko mate.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14I mean, what does that mean?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17That sounds like an Australian term.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Yeah, it sounds like an Australian term.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21I would be quite happy to go along with the idea that he was
0:40:21 > 0:40:23- a disciplinarian, all right?- Yes.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25- But then he had to be. - He had to be, yes.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26- He had to be.- He was first mate.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29He was in charge of a mixed crew.
0:40:29 > 0:40:30They were smoking opium
0:40:30 > 0:40:35and he was one man trying to maintain discipline amongst
0:40:35 > 0:40:40a group of people who weren't always willing to corporate, shall we say.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44And, I think in Francis, he may well have had
0:40:44 > 0:40:48something of a troublemaker there who was looking for problems.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52So, do you think history has misjudged your grandfather?
0:40:52 > 0:40:54I think... Yeah, I think it has actually.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57My feeling is that a grave miscarriage of justice
0:40:57 > 0:40:58took place here.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01It would be good to clear his name, certainly.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04That would be...that would be extremely good.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10This is a head-and-shoulders of him.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14We will never truly know whether Sydney Smith was a villain or
0:41:14 > 0:41:17a hero, but as he moved on with his life...
0:41:17 > 0:41:23In 1885, as the Cutty Sark lay marooned in a harbour in New York,
0:41:23 > 0:41:28she began to reinvent herself and re-enter the trade race...
0:41:28 > 0:41:30with a vengeance.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38For the little clipper was about to begin the most celebrated
0:41:38 > 0:41:42chapter in her story, and in the most unlikely of places.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48A brave new world where she would find salvation, new-found riches
0:41:48 > 0:41:53and the lasting legacy that her owner had always dreamed of.
0:41:53 > 0:41:54Australia.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03And that all started with these shaggy creatures - sheep.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Wool was vitally important to the second stage
0:42:06 > 0:42:09of the Cutty Sark's illustrious history.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15Australia was a rapidly expanding British colony in the late 1800s.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Pursuit of gold and agricultural riches made it the promised
0:42:19 > 0:42:21land for many merchants.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29But wool stood head and shoulders above everything as the most
0:42:29 > 0:42:31valuable commodity of them all.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Australia's wool industry from its earliest days
0:42:37 > 0:42:41in the 1800s grew at an extraordinary rate.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45But it was the very special, unique qualities of the magical wool
0:42:45 > 0:42:48called merino that made the difference.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57This wool is seriously, seriously thick.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00You can feel it, it's like the thickest rug.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Absolutely extraordinary.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06You just can't imagine that, once this is tweaked out,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10it becomes our jumpers and our sweaters and our socks.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Or our fine wool suits.
0:43:12 > 0:43:13Absolutely brilliant.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Wool had become the oil of its day, and extremely valuable
0:43:20 > 0:43:25colonial export, and John Willis saw his opportunity to follow the money.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31But he wasn't alone.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35As with tea, there was a huge demand for this new commodity.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38This created an annual race to collect the new season's wool
0:43:38 > 0:43:42from Australian ports and deliver it in time for the London sales.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47And so, the wool races were born.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Just like the tea trade,
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Willis faced fierce competition from steamships.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57But in the Cutty Sark, he still had by far the fastest ship.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03What he needed now was a strong-minded individual...
0:44:05 > 0:44:08..a natural leader of men, hard men,
0:44:08 > 0:44:10and of course,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14an expert seaman to captain his dream ship,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17someone who could at last bring out the true potential
0:44:17 > 0:44:19of his Cutty Sark.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24And he would find that man in Richard Woodget, a brave
0:44:24 > 0:44:28and fiercely competitive captain widely regarded
0:44:28 > 0:44:31as one of the finest seamen of his generation.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Woodget would become the Cutty Sark's longest-serving
0:44:37 > 0:44:40and most successful helmsman, sailing her for ten years
0:44:40 > 0:44:43and into the glory days of the wool races.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49The little clipper finally had the captain
0:44:49 > 0:44:51she had always deserved,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and the world was about to see what she could do.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03In her very first wool voyage in 1886, the clipper sailed from
0:45:03 > 0:45:06Sydney to London in just 84 days,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09beating her rival by almost a month.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15The following year, she did even better, returning in just 80 days.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20And by 1888, Captain Woodget had clocked up the fastest time
0:45:20 > 0:45:23ever recorded between Sydney and London,
0:45:23 > 0:45:27reaching the British capital in just 73 days.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32"All our rivals are days astern."
0:45:32 > 0:45:35The Cutty Sark has fully proved her right to be considered
0:45:35 > 0:45:38the fastest ship in the wool trade, which at this time,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40means the fastest ship in the world.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45Revenge was indeed sweet for the Cutty Sark and its owner.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Woodget was not only a master of speed,
0:45:49 > 0:45:54he was also noted for being able to load more cargo into his hold
0:45:54 > 0:45:56then any other ship in the trade.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01With 4,500 bales
0:46:01 > 0:46:05and a payload of the highest quality merino wool,
0:46:05 > 0:46:10Willis was making a fortune from every return trip to Australia
0:46:10 > 0:46:13and at the same time, achieving his dream of doing
0:46:13 > 0:46:15it in the fastest possible time.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19And then, in 1891, he even outran the Britannia,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22the fastest steamship of her day.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Willis must've been overjoyed.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31And with these record-breaking speeds, came lasting fame,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34both in Australia and Britain.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Wool had made the Cutty Sark a star
0:46:36 > 0:46:39and her exploits were helping transform this new
0:46:39 > 0:46:44colony into the most important trading hotspot in the world.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48Wool historian Lisa Murray has come to tell me more.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53It was just an amazing era in Australian history,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56and it was so important
0:46:56 > 0:47:00for the way that Australia's economy developed.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04And how important was that wonderful, beautiful, sleek,
0:47:04 > 0:47:06feminine ship, the Cutty Sark,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09- in the late 19th century to all of this?- She was integral.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12She was the clipper that took the bulk,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15the bulky, big woollen bales,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19took them after they were sold and rushed them back to Britain.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22She was the sort of, I guess,
0:47:22 > 0:47:27the symbol of the ties between Australia and Britain.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31And she was the symbol of really the strength of the Australian economy.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Without ships like the Cutty Sark, Australia wouldn't have been
0:47:35 > 0:47:39able to export its wool and it wouldn't be the country it is today.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44With the success of the wool trade,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47the Cutty Sark could not only forge the very special
0:47:47 > 0:47:50relationship between the UK and Australia,
0:47:50 > 0:47:54she had also become a household name on both sides of the globe.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Her legend was finally born.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03But the Cutty Sark's success in the new world was once
0:48:03 > 0:48:06again about to be threatened by her old rival.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14By the 1890s, the steamship was now moving in on the wool industry,
0:48:14 > 0:48:16just as it had done with tea.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21Now sadly,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24payloads began to dwindle yet again
0:48:24 > 0:48:27in the Australian ports.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29And with it, crew members,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33as the Cutty Sark began to be emptied not just of wool, but
0:48:33 > 0:48:38of people, as large-scale desertion to the promised land took hold.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47The wool industry had introduced clipper sailors to Australia.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52And in this brave new world, many found the answers to their dreams.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54There was gold in the hills.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59They had golden beaches and endless hours of glorious sunshine.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03To the Brits, who were fed up with cold, wet Britain,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07this was seen as the promised land, a land of milk and honey,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10and they came in their thousands.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17Crewmen began to use the clipper passage as a one-way ticket
0:49:17 > 0:49:19to a new life.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25And by the end of the 1800s, more than half of the men who sailed
0:49:25 > 0:49:29the Cutty Sark to Australia would desert as soon as they arrived here.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35And the result of this was the first truly significant
0:49:35 > 0:49:38migration of Brits and British culture to this new country
0:49:38 > 0:49:42over 10,000 miles away on the other side of the world.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46And these first migrants began to lay down the foundations
0:49:46 > 0:49:50of a Commonwealth tradition that is still alive today.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56And the impact of the traditions they brought with them
0:49:56 > 0:50:00has ingrained itself into the very fabric of Aussie life.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Social historian Richard Waterhouse has come along to the cricket
0:50:06 > 0:50:07to tell me more.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13Richard, behind us here is what I regard as the quintessentially
0:50:13 > 0:50:15English game of cricket.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19And I guess, for me, it kind of embodies the influence...
0:50:19 > 0:50:21the influences that Brits
0:50:21 > 0:50:24and British culture has had in this continent.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Well, I think it does.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29And British sports and the way in which they are played
0:50:29 > 0:50:34in Australia did a great deal to reinforce that Britishness.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38And it wasn't just in sport, was it? It was... It must have been...
0:50:38 > 0:50:42And your legal system and your political set-ups.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Generally, we believe that the English legal system has
0:50:45 > 0:50:49played a civilising role in Australian society.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52And in abiding by that law,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55then we will become an ordered
0:50:55 > 0:50:57and an orderly and a democratic society.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01How strong were the religious influences on Australian culture?
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Well, generally people think of Australia as being a very
0:51:05 > 0:51:10irreligious country, but in fact,
0:51:10 > 0:51:15we became a very religious country, which resulted in turning
0:51:15 > 0:51:20Sunday into a very, very dull day indeed in Australia.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22And it lasted for a century.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Not until the 1960s did what we call the British Sunday begin to
0:51:26 > 0:51:29disappear in Australia.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The British Sunday... I remember
0:51:32 > 0:51:34in my childhood in Glasgow, I always thought Sundays were
0:51:34 > 0:51:36the dreariest days.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Inevitably, they were rainy.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42They were wet and miserable and there was nothing to do.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48The Cutty Sark and its deserting sailors who were fleeing
0:51:48 > 0:51:52rainy Britain certainly left a lasting mark on this land.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57But by 1895, the industry that brought them here was dead,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59as the steamer fleets put them out of business.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05Willis gave up on his dream of Australian wool.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08And I guess the brutal reality is that
0:52:08 > 0:52:11in the age of steam,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14sail ships, no matter how fast
0:52:14 > 0:52:17or how beautiful or how unique,
0:52:17 > 0:52:19were no longer part of the story.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22But sadly, it also meant that
0:52:22 > 0:52:25she would no longer be a British ship.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And so the Cutty Sark was sold to a Portuguese shipping merchant
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and renamed the Ferreira.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40Rumours circulated in Britain as to her fate.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42Had she been scrapped?
0:52:42 > 0:52:45Or was she a Portuguese warship fighting in the Great War?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49In 1922,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53a retired sea captain was taking a walk one evening
0:52:53 > 0:52:55around this Cornish harbour
0:52:55 > 0:53:00and his attention was drawn to a battered old ship moored in the bay.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03Now, even though she had changed, her shape,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07her look over the years, the old boy instantly recognised her as the
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Cutty Sark, the very same ship that had surged past him
0:53:11 > 0:53:1327 years earlier -
0:53:13 > 0:53:15a sight never to be forgotten.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19His name was Wilfred Dowman,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22and he was determined to save the Cutty Sark.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27And as luck would have it, he had the money to do it.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29So with great love and care,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33Dowman restored her to pristine clipper condition.
0:53:33 > 0:53:34And then, for the next 14 years,
0:53:34 > 0:53:39the Cutty Sark became a permanent fixture in Falmouth Harbour,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43a living testament to Britain's glorious maritime heritage.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Following Dowman's death in 1936,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51the Cutty Sark became a gift to the nation,
0:53:51 > 0:53:55changing hands a number of times over the ensuing years
0:53:55 > 0:53:57before eventually becoming part
0:53:57 > 0:54:01of the Greenwich National Maritime Museum in 1951.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05It gives me very great pleasure
0:54:05 > 0:54:07to come to Greenwich today,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09to see Cutty Sark,
0:54:09 > 0:54:13the last of the clippers, in her permanent dry bed.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21But that's not the end of our story,
0:54:21 > 0:54:26for this grand old lady of the sea had one last tale to tell.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33In 2007, the ship was in the midst of a multimillion-pound overhaul
0:54:33 > 0:54:37to return her to her original Clydeside condition.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43But on the morning of the 21st of May, disaster struck.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46The 19th-century tea clipper the Cutty Sark is on fire.
0:54:46 > 0:54:51Look at the size of that fire. It is being refurbished at the moment.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Sparked by an electrical fault, pictures of the inferno that
0:54:55 > 0:54:57followed suggested a total catastrophe.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03100%, we have heard from the spokeswoman, of the vessel is
0:55:03 > 0:55:06ablaze. These are the latest moving pictures we have just got in.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09But yet again, the Cutty Sark's hardy design
0:55:09 > 0:55:13and iconic status would ensure that much of her would be saved.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Cutty Sark chairman Richard Doughty
0:55:17 > 0:55:21was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Didn't you have an extraordinary reaction from the Fire Brigade?
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Well, they were marvellous, you know,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28because the fire officers,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30instead of sending three appliances
0:55:30 > 0:55:32down to Cutty Sark, sent 11.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36You know. And without a shadow of a doubt, we have
0:55:36 > 0:55:39the fire service to thank for still having Cutty Sark after all
0:55:39 > 0:55:41these years. Now, this is a real fighter.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45This ship has got through hurricanes and storms.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49- But it all comes from a love and a passion for her.- It does.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51- That's the thing. - From ordinary people.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55We had mailbags, full mailbags coming to our offices
0:55:55 > 0:55:58with cheques, with notes,
0:55:58 > 0:56:01with children's coins put in envelopes, you know,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04"Have my pocket money for Cutty Sark."
0:56:04 > 0:56:08- It was very moving.- Doesn't that cover you in goose bumps?- It does.
0:56:08 > 0:56:13People think of it as their own, and that really is what saved the ship.
0:56:14 > 0:56:15The Cutty Sark fire
0:56:15 > 0:56:20and this outpouring of support showed just how much she was loved.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23But ironically, it also resulted in a total rethink
0:56:23 > 0:56:27about how the ship should be preserved for the next generation.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Fire damage had further weakened the ship's already flimsy hull
0:56:34 > 0:56:38and the restoration team needed to find a way of relieving
0:56:38 > 0:56:41the Cutty Sark of her own crippling weight.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44So what did they do?
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Well, they decided not to float her on water,
0:56:48 > 0:56:49but on thin air.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00And this is a magnificent result -
0:57:00 > 0:57:04probably one of the most detailed ship preservation projects
0:57:04 > 0:57:06ever undertaken.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10She eventually opened to the public in 2012,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13and they have been coming in the thousands ever since.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26The Cutty Sark is embedded in the public imagination
0:57:26 > 0:57:29because she tells the story of our glorious past.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34How she created lasting colonial links through trade.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38How she shaped and touched the places she visited
0:57:38 > 0:57:42and left a wonderful cultural legacy in her wake.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46That is why she remains a true icon of the seas.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51When I think of how she was dreamt up
0:57:51 > 0:57:54and built on the River Clyde in that small shipyard in Dumbarton,
0:57:54 > 0:57:57where I used to play as a boy,
0:57:57 > 0:57:59I don't know about you,
0:57:59 > 0:58:01but it certainly fills my heart with pride.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Next time, I'll be looking at the role a Clydebuilt steamer
0:58:07 > 0:58:10played in arguably the most important technological
0:58:10 > 0:58:13development in the modern world -
0:58:13 > 0:58:16connecting Britain with the rest of the planet
0:58:16 > 0:58:19and changing the way we communicate, even today.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24But it is also the story of the crucial part that this ship
0:58:24 > 0:58:29played in the most famous maritime disaster in history
0:58:29 > 0:58:32and of an intriguing mystery that would take over a century
0:58:32 > 0:58:33to solve.
0:58:33 > 0:58:37What on earth has this little pair of shoes
0:58:37 > 0:58:41got to do with the world's worst maritime disaster?