“’Pamir’ was originally launched in Hamburg in 1905, she had a steel hull, a tonnage of 3020 gross, an overall length of 375 feet, a beam of 46 feet and a loaded draught of 24 feet. Her three masts stood 168 feet above the deck and the main yard was 92 feet wide. She carried a total of 50,000 square feet of sails and could reach a top speed of 16 knots, while her speed on passage was often better than 10 knots.
Pamir, a four-masted barque, was one of the famous Flying P-Liner sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. She was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, in 1949. By 1957 she had been outmoded by modern bulk carriers and could not operate at a profit. Her shipping consortium’s inability to finance much-needed repairs or to recruit sufficient sail-trained officers caused severe technical difficulties. On 21 September 1957 she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores, with only six survivors rescued after an extensive search.…”
Eric Newby's The Last Grain Race is a good book about sailing on ships like this.
and I cant recommend highly enough this DVD: https://store.mysticseaport.org/around-cape-horn-dvd-1028517.html
it's movie footage shot & narrated by Irving Johnson – of his trip on the P-line barque Peking from the North Sea to and around Cape Horn in 1929. might seem a bit pricey but it is in fact priceless – not just some quaint footage but an extraordinary window into what its like to be crew on one of these huge sailing cargo vessels in all sorts of conditions, including immense Cape Horn storms. too bad this isn't on youtube but well worth a purchase.
I picked up a copy of Eric Newbys "Learning the Ropes" at the local library.
Its the Black and white photo journal that accompanies "The last Grain Race"
35mm black and white images shot from the apprentices on board what turned out to be the last great global voyage of just such a ship.
Its Stunning
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Ropes-Apprentice-Last-Windjammers/dp/0719556368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417307147&sr=8-1&keywords=learning+the+ropes
Cheers
Rich
Rich, Thanks, I ordered used copy.
Would have been a sight to behold to see one of these beauty's on the horizon