LAST OF THE WINDJAMMERS:...
- 石康
- 2025-05-18 00:07:04
LAST OF THE WINDJAMMERS: ‘PAMIR‘. 1949
‘Pamir‘ was a steel-hulled, German-built, 4 masted barque. She was one of the last commercial sailing ships operating anywhere in the world and the very last to sale around Cape Horn.
She was launched in Hamburg in July 1905. She was almost 115 metres long with a 3020 Gross Register Tonnage. Her three main masts stood 51.2 metres above the deck and she carried 3,800 square metres of sails. She could reach 16 knots with a normal cruising speed of 8-9 knots.
She last sailed in September of 1957. On the 21st of that month, she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and was lost off the Azores in the middle of the North Atlantic. Only 6 of her crew of 86 survived.
THE HISTORIC STORY…
Pamir was one of the famous Flying P-Liners, operated by the Laeisz company. Their ship‘s names all began with P and were built for speed, hence the title.
The company initially specialised in the South American Nitrate trade but by the 1920s had diversified into a broad range of cargo. It was at this time that Pamir was sold the the Finnish ship owner Gustav Erikson, who put her to work carrying grain between Australia and Europe.
In 1941, Pamir was seized as a prize of war by the New Zealand government while in port at Wellington. She made a number of commercial voyages under the New Zealand flag: To San Francisco, to Vancouver and to Sydney. Her last voyage across the Tasman was from Sydney to Wellington carrying 2,700 tons of cement and 400 tons of nail wire.
After the war she was returned to the Erikson line, but by then Pamir had been outmoded and outclassed by modern bulk carriers.
As indicated above her last voyage was in September 1957.
(photo source: Maritime Radio)
‘Pamir‘ was a steel-hulled, German-built, 4 masted barque. She was one of the last commercial sailing ships operating anywhere in the world and the very last to sale around Cape Horn.
She was launched in Hamburg in July 1905. She was almost 115 metres long with a 3020 Gross Register Tonnage. Her three main masts stood 51.2 metres above the deck and she carried 3,800 square metres of sails. She could reach 16 knots with a normal cruising speed of 8-9 knots.
She last sailed in September of 1957. On the 21st of that month, she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and was lost off the Azores in the middle of the North Atlantic. Only 6 of her crew of 86 survived.
THE HISTORIC STORY…
Pamir was one of the famous Flying P-Liners, operated by the Laeisz company. Their ship‘s names all began with P and were built for speed, hence the title.
The company initially specialised in the South American Nitrate trade but by the 1920s had diversified into a broad range of cargo. It was at this time that Pamir was sold the the Finnish ship owner Gustav Erikson, who put her to work carrying grain between Australia and Europe.
In 1941, Pamir was seized as a prize of war by the New Zealand government while in port at Wellington. She made a number of commercial voyages under the New Zealand flag: To San Francisco, to Vancouver and to Sydney. Her last voyage across the Tasman was from Sydney to Wellington carrying 2,700 tons of cement and 400 tons of nail wire.
After the war she was returned to the Erikson line, but by then Pamir had been outmoded and outclassed by modern bulk carriers.
As indicated above her last voyage was in September 1957.
(photo source: Maritime Radio)
