Blaze ravages historic Cutty Sark

A blaze on board the famous 19th Century ship Cutty Sark may have been started deliberately, police believe.

The ship, which was undergoing a £25m restoration, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London.

An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated when the fire broke out in the early hours.

A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said 50% of the ship was removed for restoration work. He said the trust was devastated but it could have been worse.

Charred planking

The decks of the ship are said to be unsalvageable. But much of the boat, including the masts, had already been taken away as part of the restoration project.

Chris Livett, chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, speaking at the scene, said: "We had removed 50% of the planking, so 50% of the planking wasn't on site and that's safe and secure.

"And from where I stand there is not a huge amount of damage to the planking that was left on.
"There are pockets of charred planking and some have gone, but it doesn't look as bad as first envisaged."

Police are analysing CCTV images which are thought to show people in the area shortly before the fire started.

A police spokesman said: "There have been reports of a silver car seen leaving the scene but nothing at this stage to link it to the fire."

Insp Bruce Middlemiss, from the Metropolitan Police, said detectives were looking into the possibility that the fire had been started deliberately and would like to speak to some people seen in the area last night.

However, a spokesman for London Fire Brigade said it was "pure speculation" to say the cause of the fire was suspicious.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 0445 BST and the flames were put out by 0700 BST.
CUTTY SARK

Built in 1869 at Dumbarton on the River Clyde
Designed by Hercules Linton
First voyage February 1870
210ft (64m) long
Main mast stood 152ft (46.3m) above the deck
Attracts 15m visitors a year

Preserved as a tribute to merchant navy workers

Speaking to BBC News, the chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, Richard Doughty, said: "When you lose original fabric, you lose the touch of the craftsman, you lose history itself.
"And what is special about Cutty Sark is the timbers, the iron frames that went to the South China Seas, and to think that that is threatened in any way is unbelievable, it's an unimaginable shock."

Mr Doughty described the ship as the epitome of speed under sail.

The Cutty Sark left London on her maiden voyage on 16 February 1870, sailing around The Cape of Good Hope to Shanghai in three and a half months.

She made eight journeys to China as part of the tea trade until steam ships replaced sail on the high seas.

The ship was later used for training naval cadets during WWII, and in 1951 was moored in London for the Festival of Britain. Shortly afterwards, she was acquired by the Cutty Sark Society.

The Cutty Sark is the world's oldest surviving tea clipper

The ship was undergoing a £25m renovation and was closed to visitors.

The conservation work was being carried out because sea salt had accelerated the corrosion of her iron framework.

The fire at the Cutty Sark may mean only one clipper from the same period is left intact.
The City of Adelaide, built in 1864 to carry passengers and currently at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Ayrshire, also combines a cast iron frame with a wooden hull.

Dr Eric Kentley, curatorial consultant to the Cutty Sark Trust, said of the ship: "It can be saved. It's certainly not completely devastated.

"We will put her back together - but it's going to take much much longer and a lot more money than we originally thought."