Victoria: The “Thermopylae” Alongside Main Wharf in 1891

The “belle of the ball” here is the celebrated Aberdeen built clipper “Thermopylae” which having brought a cargo of rice from Saigon, arrived in port on 26th June, 1891, this presented us with a magnificent focal point. As in the case of her rival in the China tea trade, the famous “Cutty Sark”, and also the “Titania” and the “Taeping”, she was of composite construction (elm and teak planking on iron frames). Her most prominent identifying characteristic however, was that her hull color was green, making her the “prettiest vessel ever” under sail.

View Artist’s Biography