Lost Soul on 21/5/2007 at 18:01
I turned on the TV today to see that the old “tea clipper, Cutty sark” has gone up in flames. This is in England, Greenwich. Somewhat of a loss in its own rite but then it seems that the fire was caused deliberately by one or more mentally retarded f#ck monkey/s with nothing better to do.
Built in about 1869 (I think), lasts about 140 years, then some steaming-lip-chewing scumbags destroy it in a few hours. Bring back conscription I say.:mad: :mad: :grr: Sorry about that, needed to let it out.
TTK12G3 on 21/5/2007 at 18:11
From what I understand, it's still afloat, although very badly damaged.
Fingernail on 21/5/2007 at 18:14
It's not actually nearly as badly "destroyed" as it might at first appear: half of the planking and all the masts, together with everything inside had been removed for renovation anyway so all of that is fine.
It's a great shame, and it's a bit of a shock, but the ship will be restored (as it was being anyway).
And it's not still afloat because it's been in a dry dock ever since it went out of service. But I quite agree; whoever did this is either completely ignorant or has a very bizarre and specific motive against tea clippers.
TTK12G3 on 21/5/2007 at 18:17
Quote Posted by Fingernail
And it's not still afloat because it's been in a dry dock ever since it went out of service.
I meant that it is still in manageable condition, even though it can barely pass as a large canoe at this point.
Fingernail on 21/5/2007 at 18:21
Ok, but I think you can forgive my pedantry given that you essentially used a metaphor that is also applicable literally as it is a ship.
Fingernail on 21/5/2007 at 19:26
The thing is, it's shocking that anyone would do this, but despite the burning, when it is completely restored it's more about what it represents than what it IS - I mean, it's been cleaned, restored, painted and repaired so much over the years that a few new planks to replace the burnt ones won't make so much of a difference.
Lost Soul on 21/5/2007 at 19:41
Fingernail, I totally agree with you, as you say it probably has less than more of its original bits and bobs. And as you say why would anyone want to do such a thing. I am a big history fan and cannot help getting annoyed when something like this happens:tsktsk: , you know heritage and all that…..
demagogue on 21/5/2007 at 20:50
Well, on the bright side (not really), aspiring metaphysicians will finally get some more experimental evidence to help solve that (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus) Ship of Theseus problem they've been working on all these millennia.
In the US, at least in my case, we know the Cutty Sark primarily as a kind of garish men's aftershave, both having a ship logo on the front. So the name is certainly familiar. But as I'd imagine there were lots of tea clippers in the day, what makes this ship in particular so famous? I'm curious. (Edit: Well, wiki tells me everything, I guess. They are quick with the updates, too!)
By the way, I agree that it's very uncool to mess with important historical artifacts. I'm sure there would be rioting in the streets, well plenty of shouting in the streets anyway, if somebody torched the USS Constitution.
daprdan on 21/5/2007 at 20:55
Quote Posted by demagogue
Well, on the bright side, aspiring metaphysicians will finally get some more experimental evidence to help solve that (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus) Ship of Theseus problem they've been working on all these millennia.
In the US, at least in my case, we know the Cutty Sark primarily as a kind of garish men's aftershave with a ship logo on the front. So the name is certainly familiar. But as I'd imagine there were lots of tea clippers in the day, what makes this ship in particular so famous? I'm curious.
Rum...Cutty Sark rum,Old spice aftershave.
"what makes this ship in particular so famous?"
It survives!
