"Thermopylae" of Aberdeen, Scotland.

The "Aberdeen Line" or "Aberdeen White Star Line" was established during the 1820's and 1830's in Aberdeen, North East Scotland by George Thompson. Thompson expanded his fleet and it's range significantly over this period and beyond. In addition to plying local waters, Thompson's ships sailed regularly to far flung destinations such as the 'Americas', the Mediterranean, the Pacific and the Baltic.

'Thermopylae' in Esquimalt harbour, British Columbia.

At the same time as George Thompson's expansion into the world's shipping lanes, Aberdeen's ship builders were coming up with some pretty revolutionary new ideas in ship design. The 'Aberdeen Bow' pioneered by 'Alexander Hall & Sons' was designed in part as an aid to reducing the depth of a ship's hull (so avoiding unneccasary taxation - measured at this time by the depth of a ships hull) by extending the bow in a strenthened construction further forward above the waterline than was usual in contemporary design of the era. By default, this tax saving design led to a sleeker more efficient bow which proved to aid speed as well as seaworthiness. Many shipbuilders around the globe adopted the design........

Designed by Bernard Waymouth (1824-1890) and built by Walter Hood and Company for the 'Aberdeen Line', the Composite (wooden planking on iron frames) 991 ton ship 'Thermopylae' was launched in 1868. She was delivered to her owners on September 1st of that year. She was named after the Greek 'Battle of Thermopylae' where King Leonidas of Sparta and his warriors saw off the Persian Hordes in about 480BC.... The 'Thermopylae' was built primarily for speed and incorporated the now tried and tested 'Aberdeen Bow'. The route she had been destined to ply was the Far Eastern Tea Trade (hence Tea Clipper). Speed was of the essence on this route to bring Tea to Europe as quickly as possible (so to beat the competition and command the best prices for the merchant in the fierce european Tea Market). 'Thermopylae' created her first record (still not beaten by a sailing ship) on her maiden voyage from Gravesend, England to Melbourne, Australia. She sailed the voyage land to land in a record 60 days, her skipper; Captain Kemball. She then broke another record, making Newcastle, New South Wales to Shanghai in 28 days (usually about 40+ days at the time). She then made London from Foochow in a breathtaking 91 days. Her greatest rival, the 'Cutty Sark' only ever beat 'Thermopylae's' speeds on the return journey to Britain, though this is open to scrutiny, as they were never actually raced at the same time and under the same conditions ('Cutty Sark' was loaded for racing whilst 'Thermopylae' was loaded to the gunnels for financial gain...typically Aberdonian.......). Unfortunately by the early 1880's faster passages for the Tea Trade could be made by steamships, so the gracefull clippers became employed in the less glamourous Australian Wool Trade. Nevertheless the two old adversaries still remained worthy opponents, 'Thermopylae' gaining a reputation for greater speed in lighter winds than 'Cutty Sark' managing on one occasion to cover 348 miles in one day. 'Thermopylae' and the 'Aberdeen Line' fleet in general maintained a reputation across all their routes for style and class, the ships always gleaming like new pins on arrival in port with their glistening green livery.

In 1890, 'Thermopylae' was sold to Mr Reford of Mount Royal Milling & Manufacturing Co. of Victoria, British Columbia for the sum of £5,000 where after a refit and changes to her rigging (reduced to barque rig) she traded the northern Pacific. She carried Canadian timber and coal to the Orient and returned with rice. It is claimed that on one occasion she managed to keep pace for three days with Canadian Pacific's Liner the 'Empress of India' which was steaming at an average 16 knots............ In 1983 the City of Victoria struck a One Dollar coin commemorating the 'Thermopylae's' association to the area.

In 1895/6 'Thermopylae' was sold to the Portuguese Navy to be used as a sail training ship and renamed 'Pedro Nunes'. She finished her career as a coal hulk before being sunk by the Portuguese Navy on October 13th 1907 with full military honours. An extensive amount of information about 'Thermopylae' including a number of beautiful models can be seen at the Aberdeen Maritime Museum.   H.M.S. Jervis Bay Another famous Aberdeen Line ship though a wee bit more recent in history was the 'Jervis Bay'. Built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, England in 1922, 'Jervis Bay' was converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser during WW2. A convoy which she was escorting was attacked by the German Heavy Cruiser 'Admiral Scheer'. Despite being totally outgunned, the skipper of 'Jervis Bay' - Captain E.S. Fogarty-Fegan RN - went on the offensive, pitting his ship against the much mightier warship. The brave actions of the Captain though suicidal, doubtlessly allowed many of the convoy's ships to escape the German's guns. 'Jervis Bay' was blown out of the water with only 69 survivors from a crew of 259. Captain Fogarty-Fegan was postumously awarded the Victoria Cross.....