THERMOPYLES - Aberdeen Clipper 1868

[Anatol]

From the middle of the 19 century until the opening of the Suez Canal in 1870, sailing vessels, known as Clipper Ships, dominated the ocean trade routes. These beautiful ships carried tea from China and wool from Australia to British ports. They carried English goods to far away lands, returning with valuable cargoes, as quickly as they could. Lumber went around the world on these vessels.
The fleetest of these clippers were built in the shipyards of Aberdeen, Scotland, well up on the coast of the North Sea. The swiftest of them all, Thermopylae, was launched in 1868. She was one of a series of vessels built for White Star Lines by Walter Hood & Co. , and designed by Bernard Weymouth.
The Aberdeen Herald, August 22, 1868, reported, "There was launched, on Wednesday...a composite ship of 1300 tons...christened 'The Thermopylae', named after the Greek battle of Thermopylae, where the king of Sparta, Leonidas, won the battle against the Persian horde in about 480 BC. It is intended for trading in London and China.” It was teak above the waterline and elm below.
She was built of the most durable materials, and classified in the highest range of character at Lloyds. She is intended for the London and China trade." She was teak above the waterline, and elm below.
The sailing ship Thermopylae was one of the excellent walkers. In 1868-1871. he sailed twice from London to Melbourne in 60 days, breaking the 15-year record set by the American clipper James Baines (63 days). In addition, Thermopylae has at least two more unsurpassed results: the transition from Melbourne to Shanghai in 28 days and from Shanghai to London in 91 days. Her record daily mileage was 380 statute miles, which had not been surpassed by any sailing ship before.
It is curious that the secret of the ship's success was not high speed in fresh weather (in this respect, the clipper was not a champion), but, on the contrary, the ability to catch the smallest wind. According to the English historian and sailing expert Basil Lubbock, the Thermopylae developed a speed of 7 knots when it was possible to walk on its deck with a lit candle.
Thermopylae worked in the tea, wool, coal and lumber shipping trade for White Star Lines out of Aberdeen for many years. The Suez Canal, however, had shortened the route to the east for the coalburning steamships which then took much of the clippers' work. Rates dropped and cargoes became more difficult to procure for the wind-driven ships.
The design stamp is made after painting of F. I. Sorensen.
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Grenada 2019; 4$.
Source: http://jamesbaybeacon.ca/?q=node/1470, and other websites.