''Preussen'' (''Preußen'' in German and as written on the vessel) (''PROY-sin'') was a German steel-hulled, five-masted, ship-rigged

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

built in 1902 for the F. Laeisz shipping company and named after the German state and kingdom of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. She 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'', 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 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 (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

the same day on her maiden voyage to

Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, 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 At ...

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 and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

, 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 a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

trade with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, 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 and

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in charter to the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

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 Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

''.

Loss

On 5 November 1910, on her 14th outbound voyage, carrying a mixed cargo including a number of

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

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. 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 topsails, upper and lower topgallant sails, and royals. Counting

staysail A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast. Description Most staysails a ...

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 bobstays between jibboom and bow were made of massive steel rods and chains. The only wooden spar was the gaff of the small spanker. The hoistable yards were equipped with special shoes to slide in rails riveted to the masts. "Jarvis' Patent" brace winches for the lower and top-sail yards were mounted before each of the five masts. The fall winches were of "Hall's Patent". The names of the five masts were Fockmast, Grossmast, Mittelmast, Laeiszmast (after her owner), Kreuzmast. She was designed as a so-called "three-island ship", i. e. a ship with a third "high level deck" amidships beside the forecastle () and poop () decks. The midship island (), also called the midship bridge, is also called 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 protected 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. 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 ''

''. Only a few clippers were faster than ''Preussen'', and they had considerably less cargo capacity.

Gallery

File:Preussen stranded in crabbay.jpg, ''Preussen'', stranded in Crab Bay File:Preussen ship c. 1910 SLNSW FL20702467.jpg, ''Preussen'' with tugs, Crab Bay, England, 1910 File:Preussen after collision - SLV H99.220-612.jpg, ''Preussen'' soon after the 1910 collision File:Preussen total wreck - SLV H99.220-2132.jpg, Wreck of ''Preussen''

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). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s issued by the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, 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 from Cape Dub ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

References

, 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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) 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 51,000 (2022). 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.

External links

Description with ship characteristics & photographs

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081207063728/http://www.caphorniers.cl/preussen/ships_valpo.htm CapHorniers on F. Laeisz (and A. D. Bordes & Fils), Chile, photographs etc.
1/48 scale model of ''Preussen'' at the San Francisco Maritime Museum

''Preußen'', un genuino windjammer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preussen Tall ships of Germany Shipwrecks in the English Channel Maritime incidents in 1910 Five-masted ships Wreck diving sites in England 1902 ships Ships sunk in collisions Ships built in Bremen (state) Lost sailing vessels 1910 in England Windjammers