Posted by Peter H on May 23, 2007 at 16:28:55 from 86.130.136.140 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Joshua Slucum would not agree (was Re: The Cutty Sark - The ship that died of shame.) posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on May 23, 2007 at 09:56:55:
Just a footnote on the 'Irishman's knife' theme. I read today that the Cutty Sark's steering gear (right-and-left-hand screw format) may have been modified, probably after the vessel lost her original rudder at sea in August 1872.
This restoration dilemma is well-known to those who preserve railway locomotives. Most British locos were modified at some point, usually to make them steam better and more efficiently, and these changes can alter the external appearance of the loco. When restoring, do you remove the later modifications so that you have the original 'authentic' locomotive, albeit steaming badly? Common sense says 'no', but what do you do then about livery? The public like to see the original livery, but this won't 'fit' with the modifications. There has been much dispute about this.