|
History
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 according to the plans
of chief designer Dr.-Ing. h. c. Georg Wilhelm Claussen,
launched and christened on May 7, 1902. On July 31, 1902,
the ship was commissioned and left the harbour of
Bremerhaven the same day to her maiden voyage to Iquique
under the command of Capt. Boye Richard Petersen who
assisted naval architect Claussen in his plans. The basic
idea of building such a ship is said to come from famous
Laeisz-capitain Robert Hilgendorf, commander of the five-masted
steel barque Potosi. Story has it that emperor William II,
while visiting the Potosi on June 18, 1899, asked Carl H.
Laeisz when the five-masted full-rigged ship will finally
"come". This is also considered as an impulse to built the
ship. First construction plans were found in the residue of
Carl Ferdinand Laeisz, grandson of founder Ferdinand Laeisz
and son of C. H. Laeisz, who died early at an age of 48 in
1900 even before his father Carl Heinrich Laeisz who died in
1901. 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". In 1903
(February 2 - May 1) she sailed an unequalled record voyage
from Lizard Point to Iquique in 57 days. 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. When she entered New York
harbour, almost all New Yorkers were "on their legs" to see
and welcome that unique tall sailing ship. Capt. B. R.
Petersen was in company of his wife and his little son, both
left the ship and returned to Hamburg later on in a steamer.
The mighty Preußen as she was named by many seamen 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). Both masters learned and
developed their skills sailing such a huge sailing ship
under capt. Robert Hilgendorf late master of the Potosí.
However, on November 6, 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 cross-channel steamer Brighton
who, contrary to regulations, had tried to cross before her
bows, underestimating her high speed of 16 knots (30 km/h).
The Preußen was seriously damaged and lost much of the
forward sailing equipment (bowsprit, fore topgallant mast),
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 (crab bay) during a November
gale. While crew, cargo and some equipment could be saved,
the hull with the keel broken was rendered unsalvageable.
She sits in 6 m / 19.7 ft at
51°8.02′N
1°22.17′E
/ 51.13367°N
1.3695°E /
51.13367; 1.3695Coordinates:
 51°8.02′N
1°22.17′E
/ 51.13367°N
1.3695°E /
51.13367; 1.3695.
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 or 73,259.17 sq ft
(according to other sources 5,560 square meters (59,847.3 sq
ft), which probably refer to the square sail area only). 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. All bobstays between jibboom and bow were made
of massive steel rods and chains. 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[1] for the lower and top-sail yards were mounted
before each of the five masts. The fall winches were of
"Hall's Patent". She was designed as a so-called
"three-island-ship", i. e. a ship with a third "high level
deck" amidships beside the forecastle (41 ft (12 m)) and
poop (65 ft (20 m)) decks. The midship island (74 ft (23
m)), also called the midship bridge, is named as well as a
"Liverpool house", because the first ships equipped with
that feature, came from Liverpool yards. Dry and
well-ventilated accommodations for crew, mates, and captain,
as well as the pantry and chart room were built in this
middle deck. The main helm - a double rudder wheel of 6.2 ft
(1.89 m) diameter with a steam driven rudder machine - was
mounted on top of it, well save against the dangerous huge
waves from aft. A second helm (emergency helm) was near the
stern. Four huge main hatches were set in the upper main
deck. Behind the foremast a little deckhouse contained the
two donkey boilers that drove four steam winches, a steam
capstan, the rudder machine, and a generator for
electricity. Four lifeboats with davits were securely fixed
on a tubing rack above the main deck before the aftmost
mast.
Naming her five masts: fore, main, middle, mizzen, and
jigger (in German: Vor-, Groß-, Mittel-, Achter-, Kreuzmast)
Under good conditions, the ship could reach a speed of 20
knots (37 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.
English seamen estimate her the fastest sailing ship after
the clipper era, even faster than her fleet sister Potosí,
and only a few of them were faster than her but with a
considerably less cargo. |
to top
