Klaipeda has been visited by the world’s biggest sailboats “Kruzenshtern” and “Sedov” more than once. We also had an opportunity to see many beautiful sailboats during regatta in Klaipeda last week.

Saving their ground against steamboats

In many marine countries, big sailboats are called “windjammer” by the English phrase “to jam the wind”.
Windjammers are the last major generation of commercial sailboats, which emerged as a result of technical progress at the end of the nineteenth century. At that time, commercial steamers had already become sufficiently economical and pushed sailboats out from European lines. However, on long routes (Europe-South America, Australia, India), sailboats did not lose their positions. It was economically beneficial to transport non-perishable goods transported in such sailboats. They did not need neither coal, nor large quantities of fresh water supplies, which allowed them to fill the holds with more cargo.

Windjammers are sometimes taken for clippers, but there is a big difference between them. Clippers were intended to speedy voyages, whereas windjammers’ priority was cargo transportation capacity. Some of the largest commercial sailboats’ deadweight would be 10 thousand tons. They would usually carry bulk cargo: grain, ore, fertilizer, as well as wool, sawn timber. The tall ships’ exclusive cargo had been pianos. For when transporting them by steamboats, the instruments would get out of tune due to engine vibrations.
Despite the fact that commercial steamers prevailed in the transatlantic routes, windjammer had successfully competed with them in long-distance routes until the third decade of the twentieth century.

Tree was replaced by iron and steel

“County of Peebles”, built in 1875, was the first four-masted, iron-hull bark fitted for cargo transportation by trans-Atlantic routes. Its successful operation in the line British-India convinced that the great sailing ships could still compete with steamships in long-distance race.
The biggest number of windjammers was built during 1870-1900. They were being built in shipyards in England, Germany, France and the U.S.A. When new shipbuilding technologies were applied, windjammers’ hulls were made of iron and steel. They were characterized by greater longevity, and their maintenance cost much cheaper than of wooden hulls.
Wooden masts were replaced by steel masts. They were taller and more solid. It was possible to raise more and bigger sails. The job was not easy, thus, windjammers’ decks were equipped with steam winches. They would raise sails, pull brass and other ropes. Some big sailing ships had even genuine steam engines, but they did not turn the hip into steamboats. These were just auxiliary engines needed for entering the ports, which were often located not at the sea, but at the river estuaries.

Taking into account the laws of hydrodynamics, design engineers of new sailboats improved the ship’s form and lengthened its hull, which allowed building more masts. The new barks would usually have four or five masts. Built in the U.S. in 1902, a steel schooner “Thomas W. Lawson” was equipped with even 7 masts. Optimization of the hydrodynamic properties and improvement sails’ equipment allowed windjammers to gather speed of 15 knots within favorable wind. One of the most beautiful and fleetest barks of the twentieth century “Hercogin Cecilie” would even reach 21 knots speed.

Most famous windjammers

The biggest sailing ship of all-time is considered to be a five-masted French sailing ship “France II”, built in 1911. It was 146 meters long. The steel masts could raise 38 sails with a total area of 6350 square meters and displacement of 10.5 thousand tons. Although the main purpose of the sailing-ship was cargo transfer, it was also well equipped with passenger cabins and the ship’s library. When prices of nickel raw material fell, “France II” had been left standing without freight in the port of Bordeaux since 1922.  In 1944 it was destroyed by American bomber.

The best known windjammers became the “flying P” series sailboats. They were built or bought up by commission of Ferdinand Lajesh from Hamburg. All the ship names started with the letter “P”. These are “Potosi”, “Pommern”, “Passat”, “Pamir”, “Preussen”, “Peking”, “Padua”, and “Priwall”.
Their destinies unfolded in different ways. “Pamir” sank during a storm in 1957. “Pommern” was turned into a museum ship and today harbours at Mariehamn quays (Aland Islands); “Passat” can be visited in Travemunde. Other “flying Ps” scattered all over the world, some disappeared, others changed their names and still fly to this day. After World War II, a bark “Padua” went to the Soviet Union as reparation and was renamed to “Kruzenshtern”.
In the last century, the largest windjammer fleet belonged to a Finn of Swedish origin Gustav Ericson. There were more than 20 large sailing ships flying the flag of his shipping company. Among them were four-masted barks “Archibald Russell” and “Olivebank”. In 1925-1927, 15 young Lithuanians who graduated from Kaunas Higher Technical School of Maritime Department practiced seamanship there. They circumnavigated the world on these ships, overcoming the threatful Cape Horn.

Decline of the Mohicans

Windjammers had only been useful until the Suez and Panama channels started operating in full capacity, shortening the sea route between continents of Europe and America. Their economic performance was largely dependent on both the volume of transported cargos and their prices. Depletion of nitrate deposits in South America decreased the demand for large commercial sailing ships. Fall in iron ore prices emptied the pockets of sailboat charterers. In addition, thanks to technical progress, commercial steamship tonnage was rapidly growing, which often exceeded windjammers’ cargo capacity.
After World War II, the great sailing ships ended their commercial operations completely. Many of them went to the scrap metal, part of them were turned into museums and restaurants standing at quays. Some windjammers have been more fortunate - they have become educational sailboats. Special big sailboats were subsequently built under their model, such as “Dar Młodzieży” (Poland), “Gorch Fock II” (Germany). In technical terms, windjammers are still alive today. They are welcome to all ports and are always raising admiration in people indifferent to the sea.