''Placilla'' was a four-masted

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

which was built for

F. Laeisz F. Laeisz ( ; short form ''FL'') is a German shipping company with offices in Hamburg, Rostock, Bremerhaven and Grabow, Germany, as well as Japan and the Philippines. History The firm was established by Ferdinand Laeisz on 24 March 1824 as a ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in 1892. She was sold in 1901 and renamed ''Optima'' in 1903. In 1905 she was wrecked on the

Haisborough Sands Haisborough Sands (or Haisboro Sands or Haisbro Sands) is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, England at Happisburgh.SC1408 Harwich and Rotterdam to Cromer & Terschelling Admiralty Small Craft Chart Coastal planning chart of the Harwich and Rot ...

Description

''Placilla'' was built by Joh. C. Tecklenborg in

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Ri ...

, Germany. She was long overall, with a beam of and a depth of . She had four masts and was rigged as a barque, with royal sails over double top and topgallant sails. Her

air draught Air draft (or air draught) is the distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel. This is similar to the " deep draft" of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the hull below th ...

was . Her sail area was .'' Placilla'' was a sister ship to ''Pisagua'', which was launched seven months later than she was.

History

''Placilla'' entered service with F Laeisz,

in 1892. She was used on the route between

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In 1892, ''Placilla'' made the voyage from Lizard Point to Valparaiso, Chile in 58 days. This was a record time. It was equalled by Potosi (1900), ''Pitlochry'' (1902), ''Preußen'' (1903), ''Eldora'' (1904) and ''Preußen'' (1905). She recorded a fastest voyage from

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191, ...

, Chile to the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

of 71 days and a voyage from Pisagua, Chile to The Lizard in 78 days. In 1901 she was sold to Rhederei AG von 1896, Hamburg. She was renamed ''Optima'' in 1903. On 6 January 1905, she departed Hamburg bound for Santa Rosalía,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with a cargo of coke. On 18 January 1905, she ran aground on the misty Haisborough Sands after a storm in the North Sea, off the coast of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and was wrecked. All of the crew survived.

Captains

The captains of ''Pisagua'' were:- * Robert Hilgendorf (1892–94) * Otto Schmidt (1894-1901) * Fr. Wilhelm Thöm (1901–1903) * H. Butz (1903–1905)

Code Letters

''Placilla'' was assigned the Code Letters RJLM.

References

External links

Photo of ''Placilla''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Placilla 1892 ships Ships built in Hamburg Barques Merchant ships of the German Empire Tall ships of the German Empire Maritime incidents in 1905 Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks in the North Sea