Build at the shipyard of Walter Hood & Co., Aberdeen, in 1868 for George Thompson's "White Star Line". She measured 212.0 ft x 36.0 ft x 20.9 ft and 948 tons net. Designed as an extreme clipper for the China tea trade and rigged as a three-masted ship.

On her maiden voyage Thermopylae made a record crossing from Gravesend to Melbourne in 63 days, on her continued voyage to Shanghai she set another record between those two ports.

In 1872 Thermopylae left Shanghai with a cargo of tea for London in company with the London clipper Cutty Sark. After racing each other for two weeks Cutty Sark lost her rudder after having passed the Sunda Straits. Thermopylae finally arrived in London only seven days ahead of her rival.

Sold to Canadian owners in 1890 who cut her down her rig to that of a barque.

In 1895 Thermopylae was sold to the Portuguese Government who converted her to a training ship and renamed her Pedro Nunes.

Her end came in 1906 when she was torpedoed at sea by units of the Portuguese Navy.