‘PAMIR’ - Commercial Sailing Ship
Master Mariners of Australia.
Pamir was one of the last commercial sailing ships to transport cargo around Cape Horn.
The Pamir, a famous German four-masted steel barque (1905–1957), was a renowned "Flying P-Liner" in the Australian grain trade.
She had an overall length of 114.5 m (375 ft), a beam of about 14 m (46 ft) and a draught of 7.25 m (23.5 ft). Three masts stood 51.2 m (168 ft) above deck and the main yard was 28 m (92 ft) wide.
She carried 3,800 m² (40,900 ft²) of sails and could reach a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h). However, her regular cruise speed was around 8-9 knots.
While mainly operating out of South Australia, the vessel is associated with Australian maritime history, including visits to Sydney and, via historical records/photo collections, Newcastle during the first half of the 20th century.
Pamir, built in 1905, was famous for transporting goods such as wool and grain between Europe and South America. It was part of the German fleet known as the Flying P-Liners.
On 21 September 1957, she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores.
A nine-day search for survivors was organized by the United States Coast Guard Cutter Absecon, but only four crewmen and two cadets were rescued alive, from two of the lifeboats.
It was reported that many of the 86 men aboard had managed to reach the boats, but most died in the next three days.
The sinking made headlines around the world; it was a national tragedy for Germany.
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