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Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  "The Parma in full sail." Allan C Green, between 1921-1936. This week's Sail Freighter is of especial interest to those who like the 20th century story of sail powered trade, Parma made the fastest run on the Grain Races from Australia to the UK: 15,000 miles around Cape Horn in only 83 days. Originally named Arrow when she launched at Glasgow in 1902, she was renamed Parma upon her purchase by the F. Laeisz Line as one of the "Flying P-Liners" in 1912. Parma was a 4-masted Steel Barque typical of her time, with fast lines, 327 feet long on deck, and capable of carrying 5,300 deadweight tons of cargo. She served on a variety of trades through her eventful career, parts of which were well documented by a famous figure in maritime history who we will talk about a bit later. When she was launched, she went into the fossil fuels trade, under the flag of the Anglo-American Oil Company, but after a decade she was sold and renamed as a Flying P-Liner, where her reputation really starts to get established. Newly rechristened Parma and put to work in the Nitrates Trade between Chile and Germany, carrying Guano for making fertilizer and explosives.  "On the forecastle head of the 'Parma' in fine weather." Alan Villiers, 1933. When the First World War broke out, she was in Chile, and she was interned there as a belligerent ship in a neutral port. At the end of the war, she was given to the UK Government as Reparations, then sold to Belgium, before being repurchased by the Laeisz Line in 1921, returning to the Nitrates Trade. She racked up some impressive speed records on this run over the next decade. In 1931, Parma was sold to noted maritime historian and photographer Alan Villiers. She shifted from the Nitrates Trade to the Grain Trade from Australia. In 1933, Villiers was aboard when she made the fastest run recorded by a sailing vessel between Port Victoria, Australia and Falmouth, England, winning that year's grain race. In 1936, Parma crashed into a dock in Glasgow and was severely damaged. While repairs to her hull were made, she was sold, derigged, and effectively ended her career as a sailing vessel. She was scrapped two years later in 1938. The 1933 voyage from Australia to the UK in the Grain Races which had Villiers onboard is well documented, and his collection of photos from the trip are publicly available on Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the UK's National Maritime Museum. Villiers was a major force in helping preserve the skills and history of sailing vessels, and wrote many books on the subject. Without these and similar efforts, we would likely not have the preserved vessels and skills necessary to revive sail freight today. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  "Herzogin Cecilie" Henry Mohrmann, 1907. This week we continue our series of Sail Freighters involved with the Great Grain Races, with likely the most famous of them all: The 4 masted Barque Herzogin Cecilie. Built in 1902 at Bremerhaven, Germany, and was named for the German Crown Princess. She was initially employed in the Nitrates trade between Chile and Europe for making fertilizer and explosives, as did the Parma, Passat, and Pamir. After spending the First World War interned in Chile, she was granted to France as war reparations, then quickly purchased by Gustaf Erikson of Finland. Erikson continued to employ Herzogin Cecilie for 16 years, in the Australian Grain Trade. Her speed and unique while paint made her stand out, and she became quite famous worldwide. Alan Villiers, a major figure in the end of the windjammer era and the preservation of sailing skills in the 20th century, was aboard for one of these grain runs, which inspired his book "To Falmouth For Orders." He would later purchase and sail the Parma in the 1933 Grain Race, one of the few Herzogin Cecilie didn't win in her era of competition.  From the "Seaman's Journal" of June, 1931. Herzogin Cecilie was a fast ship, one of the fastest of the windjammers. At one point in her career she booked over 20 knots. She even beat the record of the Famous tea clipper Cutty Sark, while carrying 5000 tons of grain to the Cutty Sark's empty holds. This turn of speed let the Herzogin Cecilie win 8 of the 11 Great Grain Races she participated in. In 1936, under the command of a less experienced captain (after her previous skipper retired), she won the grain race in a mere 86 days, the second-fastest ever. A few days later, she departed Falmouth for Ipswich to deliver the cargo to its final destination, but she ran aground in a fog on the coast of Devon, UK. Despite a protracted rescue effort which involved hauling her ashore, a storm battered her on the beach and she capsized, then sank, rendering her unrecoverable. Thus ended the career of one of the most famous of the 20th century Windjammers.  The restored Captain's cabin of the four-masted barque Herzogin Cecilie, in the Maritime Museum of Mariehamn, Finland, 15 July 2012. Photo by KDHOX. Wikimedia Commons. Most of the vessel's fittings were salvaged, and the Captain's Saloon is now reassembled as part of the Mariehamn Aland Islands Maritime Museum, Finland. She is also remembered in folk songs. The Herzogin Cecilie was a very remarkable sail freighter, and a classic piece of the end of working sail in the Atlantic. While she is gone, her model is one to follow, and even with modern technology and knowledge, might be hard to beat. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion. .JPG) "Passat" under sail. Yasmina, 2015. In sticking with the major ships of the Great Grain Races while the Northeast Grain Race is going on, this week we're featuring the Passat, another of the Flying P-Liners of the Laeisz line from Hamburg, Germany. A Four-Masted, Steel-Hulled Barque, Passat was launched in 1911, and worked in the Nitrates trade like so many of the early 20th century windjammers, bringing Guano from Chile to Europe for making fertilizer and explosives. Like many of the other P-Liners, she was interned in Chile through the First World War, and granted to France as War Reparations in 1920. She was re-purchased by the Laeisz Line in 1921, and returned to the nitrates trade. In 1932 she was sold to Gustaf Erikson of Finland, who put her on the Australian Grain Trade, and she racked up an impressive 4 victories in the Grain Races. Her fastest run was in 94 days, an average of nearly 160 nautical miles per day, or 6.65 knots.  "Passat under sail" Swedish National Maritime Museums. Eventually, Passat and Pamir were the only two windjammers left on the Australia Run, and they raced each other for the last time in 1949, with Passat taking home the final victory of the Grain Races. After the 1949 race, regulatory changes made her operation economically impossible, when the 2-watch system was barred in favor of the 3-watch system used on motor vessels. The 3-watch system required more crew, which meant too much operating expense, and she was sold to be broken up in 1951. Passat had an eventful and long career, rounding Cape Horn 39 times in her 38 years. When you account for the 6 years she sat in Chile during the First World War, and sitting out 6 years of the Second World War, she rounded the horn more than once per year! Luckily, she was purchased and saved for use as a sail training vessel in the 1950s, and now serves as a youth hostel and museum ship in Lubbock, Germany.  "Passat" today. Photo by Peter Haas, 2011. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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