Thermopylae

An extreme composite clipper ship designed by Bernard Waymouth of London and build in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co., Aberdeen. She measured 212'0"×36'0"×20'9" and tonnage 991 GRT, 948 NRT and 927 tons under deck. The under deck coefficient was 0,58. Rigged with royal sails, single topgallant and double top-sails.

1868 June: Launched at the shipyard of Walter Hood & Co, Aberdeen, for the White Star Line (George Thompson & Co.), Aberdeen. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 60688 and signal WPVJ. Employed in the China tea trade.
1868-1874: In command of Captain Robert Kemball, late of the Yang-Tsze.
1868 November 8 —: Sailed on her maiden voyage from Gravesend to Hobson's Bay, Melbourne, in 63 days. The fastest passage on record.
1869 February 10 — March 13: Sailed from Newcastle, NSW, to Shanghai in 31 days.
1869 July 3 - September 30: Sailed from Foochow to London in 91 days.
1870 July 30 - November 12: Sailed from Shanghai to London in 105 days.
1871 June 25 - October 6: Sailed from Shanghai to London in 103 days.
1872 June 18 - October 11: In 1872 Thermopylae left Shanghai with a cargo of tea for London in company with the London clipper Cutty Sark. After racing each other for two weeks Cutty Sark lost her rudder after having passed the Sunda Straits. Thermopylae finally arrived in London only seven days ahead of her rival.
1873 July 11 - October 19: Sailed from Foochow to London in 100 days.
1874 July 15 - October 27: Sailed from Shanghai to London in 104 days.
1875-(1879): In command of Captain Charles Matheson.
1875 July 11 - October 31: Sailed from Foochow to London in 112 days.
1876 July 29 - November 24: Sailed from Foochow to London in 118 days.
1877 July 8 - October 20: Sailed from Shanghai to London in 104 days.
1878 November 27 - March 17: Sailed from Shanghai to London in 110 days.
1881 October 30 - September 30: Sailed from Foochow to London in 108 days.
1882: Sailed from Sydney to Start Point in 76 days.
c1889: Sold to W. Ross & Co., London.
1890: Sold to Redford, Montreal, for £ 5000 and who cut her down her rig to that of a barque.
1893 February 15 — March 10: Sailed from Victoria, BC, in ballast to Hong Kong in 23 days.
1895: Sold to the Portuguese Government which converted her to a training ship and renamed her Pedro Nunes.
1907 October 13: Sunk by gunfire and torpedoes by units of the Portuguese Navy at sea off the Tagus.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
[Axwik, Axel]: Klipperskeppet Thermopylae.
Svenska Segelfartyg årg. 2, Malmö, 1938. Nr. 3-4, (7) pp, ill.
Crosse, John: Thermopylae and the Age of Clippers.
Historian Publishers, Vancouver, 1968.
Crosse, John: Thermopylae v. Cutty Sark: The 1872 Official Logs.
Mariner's Mirror Vol. 60, London, 1974. pp 63-72, 1 plate.
Hill, George: Twenty years on.
Model Shipwright Vol. 10, London, 1981-82. pp 37:12-16, ill.
Hume, Cyril L. & Armstrong, Malcolm C.: The Cutty Sark and Thermopylae Era of Sail.
Brown, Son & Ferguson, Glasgow, 1987. 8vo, (4), x, 182 pp, ill., 16 pl.
Matheson, Marny: Clippers for the Record. The Story of Ship Thermopylae, S.S. Aberdeen and Captain Charles Matheson.
Spectrum Publications, Melbourne, 1984. 8vo, (12), 161 pp, ill.

Updated 2000-03-28 by Lars Bruzelius.

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