The Tea Clipper Ship Cutty Sark was built in 1869 at Dumbarton,Scottland. She was destined for the tea trade, then an intensely competitive race across the globe from China to London.In the end,clippers lost out to steamships that could pass through the recently opened Suez Canal and deliver goods more reliably. She was then used for the Australian wool trade and sold in 1895 to a Portuguese company, returning to the UK in 1923. In 1954, she was restored and moved to a custom-built dry-dock and put on public display at Greenwich, London. The exceptional elegance and beauty of her line, allied to her incredible speed and wealth of details, have contributed to the unique legend of the Cutty Sark.