Preußen (ship)

The "Preußen" was a German steel-hulled five masted ship-rigged windjammer built in 1902 for the famous F. Laeisz shipping company and named after the German state and kingdom of Prussia. It was the only ship of this class with five masts having carried six sails on each mast within the world merchant fleet.

Until the 2000 launch of the similar "Royal Clipper", a sail cruise liner, she was the only fully rigged vessel (i.e. a ship carrying square sails on all masts) with five masts ever built.

History

The "Preußen" was built as hull-number 179 at the Joh. C. Tecklenborg ship yard in Geestemünde and launched on May 7, 1902. The basic idea of building such a ship came from famous Laeisz-capitain Robert Hilgendorf, commander of the five-masted steel barque "Potosi", first construction plans were found in the residue of Carl Ferdinand Laeisz, grandson of founder Ferdinand Laeisz, who died early at an age of 48 in 1900. The ship was subsequently ordered in November 1900.

The sturdily built ship could weather every storm and even tack at force 9 winds. In such conditions eight men had to hold the 6½ ft tall double-steering wheel. She was successfully used in the saltpeter trade with Chile, setting speed records in the process. Due to her appearance, uniqueness, and excellent sailing characteristics seamen called her the "Queen of the Queens of the Seas". She made twelve "round voyages" (Hamburg-Chile and back home) and one journey round the world via New York and Yokohama, Japan in charter to the Standard Oil Co. and had only two skippers in her career, captain Boye Richard Petersen (11 voyages) and captain Jochim Hans Hinrich Nissen (2 voyages and the last voyage).

However, on 6 November 1910, on her 14th outbound voyage under captain Jochim Hans Hinrich Nissen carrying a mixed cargo, including a number of pianos for Chile, she was rammed by the small British steamer "Brighton" who, contrary to regulations, had tried to cross before her bows, underestimating her high speed of convert|16|kn|km/h. The Preußen was seriously damaged and lost much of the forward sailing equipment, making it impossible to steer the ship to safety. After several attempts to sail or pull her to nearby Dover had failed, she ran aground a beach during a November gale. While crew, cargo and some equipment could be saved, the hull was rendered unsalvageable. She sits in 6m at coord|58|8.02|N|1|22.17|E|display=inline,title.

Technical data

The "Preußen" was steel-built, with a waterline length of 124 m and a total hull length of 132 m. The hull was 16.4 m wide and the ship had a displacement of 11,150 tons, for an effective carrying capacity of 8,000 tons. The five masts were fully rigged, with courses, upper and lower topsails, upper and lower topgallant sails, and royals. Counting staysails, she carried 47 sails (30 square sails in six storeys, 12 staysails between the five masts, four foresails (jibs) and a small fore-and-aft spanker sail with a total sail area of 6,806 square meters (according to other sources 5,560 square meters) . Not only the hull was steel: masts (lower and top mast were made in one piece) and spars (yard, spanker boom) were constructed of steel tubing, and most of the rigging was steel cable. The only wooden spar was the gaff of the small spanker fore-and-aft sail. The hoistable yards were equipped with special shoes to slide in rails riveted to the masts. "Jarvis' Patent" brace winches [ [http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Biography/GB/Jarvis,_JCB.html Biography of Captain John Charles Barron Jarvis (1857-1935)] ] for the lower and top-sail yards were mounted before each of the five masts. The fall winches were of "Hall's Patent".

Under good conditions, the ship could reach a speed of convert|18|kn|km/h. Her best 24-hour-runs were 392 nm in 1908 on her voyage to Japan and 426 nm in 1904 in the South Pacific. The "Preußen" was manned by a crew of 45, which was supported by two steam engines powering the pumps, the rudder steering engine, the loading gear, and winches.

Gallery

References

* Oliver E. Allen: "Die Windjammer", Time-Life Books, 1980 (Original US edition: 1978)
* Horst Hamecher: "Fünfmast-Vollschiff »PREUSSEN«, Königin der See. Der Lebensweg eines Tiefwasserseglers". Hamecher Eigenverlag, Kassel, 1993, ISBN 3-920307-46-1
* Björn Landström: "Das Schiff", C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 1961

External links

* [http://werften.fischtown.de/archiv/preussen1.htm Beschreibung mit Fotos ]
* [http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Fivemast_ships/Preussen(1902).html "Preußen" at www.bruzelius.info]
* [http://www.esys.org/bigship/preussen.html Steckbrief der "Preußen"]
* [http://www.janmaat.de/preussen.htm Beschreibung mit Schiffsdaten, Fotos, Bericht der Havarie]
* [http://www.caphorniers.cl/preussen/ships_valpo.htm CapHorniers on F. Laeisz (and A. D. Bordes & Fils), Chile, Fotos etc.]