The tea clipper, Cutty Sark, was launched on November 22, 1869.

“Cutty Sark never left Britain without a cargo in her hold. She carried everything from mining gear to household goods, including large quantities of beer and spirits to Australia, and coal for steamships to the Far East.
During her 52-year service, Cutty Sark sailed 957,995 nautical miles – the equivalent of going to the moon and back 2.5 times.”
Cutty Sark Visitors Center | Museums London — FREE resource of all 200 museums in London.

Tea Clipper – Cutty Sark 1870
Part of the series Merchant Navy
Issued in 2013 by Royal Mail
Designer: Silk Pearce

The 3 masted clipper was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, and was capable of hitting 17 knots when all sails were unfurled and a good wind available.    

John Willis commissioned the building of Cutty Sark at a time of intense rivalry in the tea trade. This was based almost entirely on the ability to travel to China and return to London with your cargo as quickly as possible. Clipper ships were built for speed, and Willis wanted his Cutty Sark to be the fastest cargo ship afloat. The hull was a composite, made of teak and rock elm attached to a light and streamlined iron skeleton, while a sharp bow and narrow hull ensured the ship was dynamic in the water. The ship was built with extremely tall masts, a vast sail area and wire, rather than rope, rigging. This was all designed to increase speed at sea, and a steering mechanism that freed up valuable cargo space in the hold. Cutty Sark was designed and built, from top to bottom, to win the tea races. Cutty Sark could hold around 10,000 tea chests, which would have had a value of around £6 million in today’s money. Cutty Sark and the Tea Trade | Royal Museums Greenwich

Page from pamphlet announcing tea price reductions. Image courtesy Royal Museums Greenwich. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/cutty-sark-tea-trade

These ships came to be known as Clipper Ships … “clip” was slang for run or fly quickly. The design of these vessels, with their massive sails, enabled them to “clip” over the waves at a great speed, which caused a sensation in the shipping industry.  Now ships could travel at speeds of up to 30 kilometers an hour … and traders could deliver goods faster and the freshest tea possible.  Clipper ships became the new force.
CLIPPER SHIPS and the GREAT TEA RACE of 1866 | Tea, Toast and Travel <– this is an excellent site. Stop by and enjoy a bit of well entertaining maritime history 

How a clipper was loaded with its valuable tea cargo
Image courtesy Toast, Tea and Travel http://www.teatoastandtravel.com/clipper-ships-and-the-great-tea-race-of-1866/

She took her name from the Robbie Burn’s poem Tam o’Shanter.  Cutty sark referred to the scandalously revealing shirt worn by the witch chasing o’Shanter: 

Two paths to the riches of China.

The Cutty’s service in the tea trade was glorious, but short lived. Despite a reputation for getting cargo to port faster than most ships, it couldn’t compete with the newly opened Suez canal. The new canal allowed steam ships to pass through, cutting 3,000 miles from the journey to China, with faster boats. 

The first route (below) shows the route a tea clipper would take vs the shortened Suez route (second map). The clippers couldn’t compete with the newer steam ships that didn’t rely on the winds and could sail up and down rivers in search of cargo.  Innovations to steam engine technology and the opening of the Suez canal put an end to the tea clippers cargo transportation domination