''Preussen'' (''Preußen'' in German and as written on the vessel) (''PROY-sin'') was a German steel-hulled, five-masted,
ship-rigged
A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three s ...
sailing ship
A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
. It was the world's only ship of this class with five masts, carrying six square sails on each mast.
Until the 2000 launch of ''
Royal Clipper
''Royal Clipper'' is a steel- hulled five- masted fully rigged tall ship used as a cruise ship. She was redesigned by Robert McFarlane of McFarlane ShipDesign, for Star Clippers Ltd. of Sweden, the same designer behind the cruise company's first ...
'', a sail cruise liner, she was the only five-masted full-rigged ship ever built.
History
''Preussen'' was built as hull-number 179 at the Joh. C. Tecklenborg ship yard 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 Riv ...
according to the plans of chief designer Dr.-Ing. h. c. Georg Wilhelm Claussen, launched and christened on 7 May 1902. The ship was commissioned on 31 July 1902 and left the harbour of
Bremerhaven
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 Riv ...
the same day on her maiden voyage to
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 191,468 ...
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 captain Robert Hilgendorf, commander of the five-masted steel barque '' Potosi''. Story has it that Kaiser
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
, while visiting ''Potosi'' on 18 June 1899, asked Carl H. Laeisz when the five-masted full-rigged ship will finally "come". This inspired Laeisz to build the ship. The initial construction plans were found among the effects 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 in force 9 winds. In such conditions eight men had to hold the double steering wheel. She was successfully used in the
saltpeter
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...
trade with
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 ...
, 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 (2 February – 1 May) she sailed an unequalled record voyage from Lizard Point to Iquique in 57 days. She made twelve "round trips" (Hamburg–Chile and back home) and one journey round the world via
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in charter to the
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
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 accompanied by his wife and his little son; both left the ship and returned to Hamburg later by 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 full voyages and the last). Both masters learned and developed their skills sailing such a huge sailing ship under Capt. Robert Hilgendorf, late master of ''
Potosí
Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...
''.
Loss
On 5 November 1910, on her 14th outbound voyage, carrying a mixed cargo including a number of
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
s for Chile, ''Preussen'' was at 23:35 rammed by the small British cross-channel steamer south of Newhaven. Contrary to regulations, ''Brighton'' had tried to cross her bows, underestimating her high speed of . ''Preussen'' was seriously damaged and lost much of her forward rigging (bowsprit, fore topgallant mast), making it impossible to steer the ship to safety. ''Brighton'' returned to Newhaven to summon aid and the tug ''Alert'' was sent to assist ''Preussen''. A November gale thwarted attempts to sail or tug her to safety in
Dover Harbour
The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the List of busiest cruise ports ...
. It was intended to anchor her off Dover, but both anchor chains broke, and ''Preussen'' was driven onto rocks at Crab Bay, where she sank as a result of the damage inflicted on her. While crew, cargo and some equipment could be saved from ''Preussen'', with the keel broken she was rendered unsalvageable. She sits in of water at . The Master of ''Brighton'' was found to be responsible for the accident and lost his licence as a result. A few ribs of ''Preussen'' can be seen off Crab Bay at low spring tides.
Technical data
''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 , for an effective carrying capacity of . The five masts were fully rigged, with courses, upper and lower
topsail
A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.
Square rig
On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
s, upper and lower
topgallant sail
On a square rigged sailing vessel, a topgallant sail (topgallant alone pronounced "t'gallant", topgallant sail pronounced "t'garns'l",C.S. Forester, ''Beat to Quarters'', Chapter VI. is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the topsai ...
staysail
A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose Sail components#Edges, luff can be affixed to a stays (nautical), stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast (sailing), mast to the deck (ship), deck, the b ...
s, 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) with a total sail area of (according to other sources , 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
donkey boiler
There have been a vast number of designs of steam boiler, particularly towards the end of the 19th century when the technology was evolving rapidly. A great many of these took the names of their originators or primary manufacturers, rather than a m ...
s 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.
Under good conditions, the ship could reach a speed of . Her best 24-hour runs were 392 nm in 1908 on her voyage to Japan and 426 nm in 1904 in the South Pacific. ''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
Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...
''. Only a few clippers were faster than ''Preussen'', and they had considerably less cargo capacity.
Stamps
''Preussen'' has appeared on
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
s issued by the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
,
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 betwe ...
,
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
.
See also
*
List of large sailing vessels
This is a list of large sailing vessels, past and present, including sailing mega yachts, tall ships, sailing cruise ships, and large sailing military ships. It is sorted by overall length.
The list, which is in the form of a table, covers vessel ...
References
Further reading
* Oliver E. Allen: ''Die Windjammer'', Time-Life Books, 1980 (Original US edition: ''The Windjammers'', 1978)
* Heinz Blöß: ''Glanz und Schicksal der "Potosi" und "Preußen", Hamburgs und der Welt größte Segler''. Schmidt Verlag,
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
1960
* Jochen Brennecke: ''Windjammer''. Der große Bericht über die Entwicklung, Reisen und Schicksale der "Königinnen der Sieben Meere". Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft,
Herford
Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford.
Geography
...
, 3. Aufl. 1984; Kap. XXII - Die Größten unter den Segelschiffen der Welt, S. 291-297;
* Hans-Jörg Furrer: ''Die Vier- und Fünfmast-Rahsegler der Welt''. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1984, pp 168,
* Horst Hamecher: ''Fünfmast-Vollschiff »PREUSSEN«, Königin der See. Der Lebensweg eines Tiefwasserseglers''. Hamecher Eigenverlag, Kassel 1993, ill.; (the book describes in detail everything concerning the ship including all her voyages)
* W. Kaemmerer: ''Das Fünfmast-Vollschiff Preußen, erbaut von Joh. C. Tecklenborg A.-G., Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde''. Zeitschrift der Vereins deutscher Ingenieure, vol. 48, No. 34,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
1904
* Peter Klingbeil: ''Die Flying P-Liner. Die Segelschiffe der Reederei F. Laeisz''. Verlag "Die Hanse", Hamburg 1998 / 2000;
* Björn Landström: ''Das Schiff''. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, München (
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
) 1961
* Hans Georg Prager: ''„F. Laeisz“ vom Frachtsegler bis zum Bulk Carrier''. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Herford 1974;
* Manfred Prager: ''Vergleich zwischen dem Fünfmastvollschiff "Preußen" und der Fünfmastbark "Potosi" auf den Reisen nach der Westküste Südamerikas und zurück''. Annalen der Hydrographie und maritimen Meteorologie: Zeitschrift für Seefahrt und Meereskunde, Hamburg, Berlin 1908; ISSN 0174-8114
* Schiff und Zeit. Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Schiffahrts- und Marinegeschichte. ''Fünfmastvollschiff "Preußen"''. Heft 5/1977, Herford 1977, Bestell-Nr.: 5872
* Jens Jansson: ''SOS - Schicksale deutscher Schiffe - Weiße Segel über blauen Wogen - vol. Nr. 51 - Fünfmastvollschiff "Preußen"''. pp 2, Pabel-Moewig Verlag KG,
Rastatt
Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was an ...
1976
*Rolf Christian Warming: "I was at the helm when Preussen ran aground", Mariner's Mirror (101:3): pp. 323–333. 2015.