Pamir: Historical Photos of the World’s Last Commercial Ocean-Going Sailing Ship

Pamir, a majestic four-masted barque, built by the prestigious German shipping company, F. Stands as a testament to Laiz's craftsmanship.

This remarkable ship, whose construction was a marvel of its time, bears witness to an important moment in maritime history. In 1949, she was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn.

Pamir was built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg and launched on 29 July 1905. She had a steel hull and a tonnage of 3,020 GRT (2,777 net).

She had an overall length of 114.5 meters (375 ft), a beam of about 14 meters (46 ft) and a draft of 7.25 meters (23.5 ft). The three masts were 51.2 meters (168 ft) above the deck and the main yard was 28 meters (92 ft) wide.

She carried 3,800 square meters (40,900 ft²) of sail and could reach a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h). However, her regular cruise speed was about 8–9 knots.

By 1914, he had made eight trips to Chile, with a one-way trip taking 64 to about 70 days from Hamburg to Valparaíso, Chile's foremost nitrate port at the time.

From October 1914, she remained in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.

In 1920 they were handed over to Italy as war reparations. On 15 July 1920, she departed Hamburg towed by tugs for Naples via Rotterdam.

The Italian government was unable to find the crew of the sailing ship in deep waters, and a few years later F. The Liege company bought it back.

In 1924, the F. Laeisz Company bought her back for £7,000 and put her back into service in the nitrate trade.

Ten commercial voyages were made under the New Zealand flag: five to San Francisco, three to Vancouver, one to Sydney and her last voyage across the Tasman from Sydney to Wellington carrying 2,700 tons of cement and 400 tons of nail wire.

The end of the war proved to be a turning point. As steam and motor ships came to the center of global shipping, the age of sail was diminishing.

The Pamir, once a symbol of maritime grandeur, is rapidly becoming obsolete in the face of modern technology.

On her 128-day voyage to Falmouth, Pamir made history on July 11, 1949.

She became the last windjammer to navigate Cape Horn while carrying valuable cargo, a testament to her seaworthiness and the heritage of sail-powered ships.

The sad thing is that the final chapter of Pamir unfolded in the abyssal waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In September 1957, the ship encountered a severe storm while en route from Buenos Aires to Hamburg with a cargo of grain.

The combination of heavy seas and strong winds proved too much for the old ship. On September 21, 1957, Pamir succumbed to the elements, sinking beneath the waves.

The tragedy of the sinking of the Pamir went beyond the loss of a ship. Only six of the 86 crew members survived, making it one of the deadliest shipwrecks of its time.

The sinking marked the end of an era, bringing to a close the history of commercial sailing ships that once dominated the world's oceans.

Survivors reported that the crew and cadets remained very quiet until close to the damage to the ship as it was not believed that the ship was in difficulties – some sailors were still taking photographs, and when ordered to don life jackets So some complained.

There was no panic even in the end. She was not going into the air at any time, and her engines were not used.

At least one lifeboat was freed before it capsized; Others became separated briefly before or during the capsizing and sinking.