Cutty Sark destroyed by fire…

General » General Discussion

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Cutty Sark destroyed by fire…

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:00:00 PM EST

I shed a tear when I heard this… she was a truly beautiful ship and utterly irreplacible…

Arson is suspected.

ANdy

Live video of Cutty Sark ablaze

Firemen fight huge Cutty Sark blaze
Press Association
Monday May 21, 2007 7:18 AM

Fire has ripped through the Cutty Sark, one of Britain's best-preserved maritime treasures.

Firefighters were called to the historic 19th-century tea clipper, preserved in dry dock in Greenwich, south-east London, at 4.45am.

Residents are being evacuated and the fire brigade is battling the blaze. Police have installed a 200-metre cordon around the ship, which resides on the banks of the Thames.

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said the situation was now under control. At least eight fire engines were on the scene.

Scotland Yard confirmed no one had been injured.

The ship is currently closed for a £25 million renovation and the fire brigade said there were fears because of gas cylinders on board.

A Transport for London spokeswoman said the northern section of Greenwich's one-way system had closed and Cutty Sark station is closed but the Docklands Light Railway was running as normal otherwise.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel was also shut and a number of buses have been diverted.

If the ship is destroyed it will be regarded as a severe loss to Britain's maritime history.

It has been closed since November 2006 and was due to reopen in 2009. It needed substantial repairs because sea salt had speeded up the corrosion of her iron framework.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2007, All Rights Reserved.

As she was before the fire…

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:00:26 PM EST

[#1]

That is just fucking tragic!

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:02:22 PM EST

[#2]

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:03:04 PM EST

[#3]

Quoted:

If the ship is destroyed it ~~will~~ should be regarded as a severe loss to ~~Britain's~~ the world's maritime history.

Fixed.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:04:30 PM EST

[#4]

Oh! man! I have a soft spot for those old Sailing vessels.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:05:32 PM EST

[#5]

DAMN...!

The last time I saw the Cutty Sark was in 1975. I wanted to renew the experience in an upcoming trip.

Truly a historical treasure...

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:09:01 PM EST

[#6]

That is a tragic shame.

Reading he headline, my first thought was the Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky distillery.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:11:34 PM EST

[#7]

Such a beautiful ship.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:15:44 PM EST

[#8]

Pray that somewhere, there's still a set of blueprints. Even though it would be hugely expensive to reconstruct, it's be worth it.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:16:52 PM EST

[#9]

What caused the fire?

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:18:03 PM EST

[#10]

ARSON??? Keelhaul them.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:28:01 PM EST

[#11]

Quoted:
ARSON??? Keelhaul them.

It was being renovated so some idiot probably left a hot tool of some kind in an unsafe condition. A local resturant here went up in flames that way.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:30:05 PM EST

[#12]

sickening.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:33:25 PM EST

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:
ARSON??? Keelhaul them.

It was being renovated so some idiot probably left a hot tool of some kind in an unsafe condition. A local resturant here went up in flames that way.

CCTV footage shows a group of people acting suspiciously next to the ship just before she caught fire.

ANdy

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:35:52 PM EST

[#14]

It would be analogous to the USS Constitution catching fire here. Very tragic.

Posted: 5/20/2007 10:45:01 PM EST

[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:
ARSON??? Keelhaul them.

It was being renovated so some idiot probably left a hot tool of some kind in an unsafe condition. A local resturant here went up in flames that way.

CCTV footage shows a group of people acting suspiciously next to the ship just before she caught fire.

ANdy

I think using the Tower of London again as a prison might be in order for those if it is arson

Posted: 5/20/2007 11:12:32 PM EST

[#16]

She's a beautiful ship.
What a damn shame.

Posted: 5/21/2007 1:53:50 AM EST

[#17]

Quoted:
She's a beautiful ship.
What a damn shame.

+1

if it's arson, who else here would find it apropos to see the s#!tbird(s) who did it strung from the yardarm of a Reconstructed Cutty?

Posted: 5/21/2007 1:59:20 AM EST

[#18]

Quoted:

Quoted:
She's a beautiful ship.
What a damn shame.

+1

if it's arson, who else here would find it apropos to see the s#!tbird(s) who did it strung from the yardarm of a Reconstructed Cutty?

Sounds too good to me.

Posted: 5/21/2007 2:06:14 AM EST

[#19]

Quoted:
That is a tragic shame.

Reading he headline, my first thought was the Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky distillery.

Ditto! I was thinking the scotch price was going to go thru the roof; it was bad enough when they close it down for a month or so each year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(Montgomery Scott orders scotch and spits it out when served synthihol. "Laddie, I've been drinking since before you were in diapers and that isn't scotch!" (w,stte), ST:TNG "Relics")

Posted: 5/21/2007 2:07:46 AM EST

[#20]

Posted: 5/21/2007 2:16:18 AM EST

[#21]

CHRIST! I just saw an aerial photo on Fox News!

Everything aft of about 1/5 of the ship's length back from the bow is burned down to the waterline!

ETA: [GovernmentOfficial] Whatever it was, it wasn't terrorism. [/GovernmentOfficial]

Posted: 5/21/2007 2:39:52 AM EST

[#22]

terrorists? newly minted anti-British citizens?

Posted: 5/21/2007 2:50:25 AM EST

[#23]

I bet the brits are already blaming it on their involvement with GW!

Posted: 5/21/2007 3:25:53 AM EST

[#24]

It may not be as bad as we think... as per the BBC all of her rigging and around 50% of her hull had already been disassembled and was safely in storage. Hopefully the iron ribs and keel are salvageable but the decks are almost a total loss

link

Posted: 5/21/2007 5:56:06 AM EST

[#25]

Quoted:
terrorists? newly minted anti-British citizens?

Greenwich has turned into another 'U iz all hatin' me coz I iz Black' ghetto… It used to be a lovely and upmarket part of London when I lived there in the 70's.

ANdy

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:03:41 AM EST

[#26]

Wow that is a shame. They have to rebuild it. And I hope they catch the POS who did it.

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:10:37 AM EST

[#27]

I was just thinking it was booze that burned,

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:15:52 AM EST

[#28]

What was it named after?

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:17:13 AM EST

[#29]

it's bushes fault

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:33:00 AM EST

[#30]

I used to have a model of that ship. I was never big into navy stuff but I thought that was a truly cool ship.

. Hope she can be repaired.

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:43:52 AM EST

[#31]

Oh no!!! My secret gun stash! All gone! How tragic!

Posted: 5/21/2007 6:47:22 AM EST

[#32]

Yahoo News Report

It looks like a few million pounds in damage, but thankfully the ship is in pretty good shape despite the fire. Her structure appears to be mostly intact.

I can't help but think it was a bunch of enviro-wackos that burned the ship in protest to the number of trees needed to build and restore her. I'm likely wrong, but that's the first thing that came to my mind.

Posted: 5/21/2007 9:16:22 AM EST

[#33]

Quoted:

CCTV footage shows a group of people acting suspiciously next to the ship just before she caught fire.

ANdy

It just shows that CCTV does not do anything to protect people or property. If CCTV was so great the damage would of never been done. And most of time the images from the cameras are pretty bad becuase the tape is reused so many times.

Posted: 5/21/2007 9:48:56 AM EST

[#34]

Quoted:

Quoted:
ARSON??? Keelhaul them.

It was being renovated so some idiot probably left a hot tool of some kind in an unsafe condition. A local resturant here went up in flames that way.

CCTV footage shows a group of people acting suspiciously next to the ship just before she caught fire.

ANdy

I think using the Tower of London again as a ~~prison~~ cutting block station might be in order for those if it is arson

Fixed.

Posted: 5/21/2007 11:15:13 AM EST

[#35]

Quoted:
I bet the brits are already blaming it on their involvement with GW!

What do you want to bet that they ban fire to combat the wave of fire crime that's sweeping their country?

Posted: 5/22/2007 3:09:52 PM EST

[#36]

Let's hope the trash who burned the Cutty Sark don't set their sights on this next

Vulcan XL426 Restoration

The Cutty Sark is right up there with Spitfire Mark II, the SMLE and the Avro Vulcan as icons of British history.