windjammer

This article is about a historical type of sailing ship. For information on the cruise lines, see Windjammer Cruises

Dar Pomorza, former “SMS Prinzess Eitel Friedrich”, an old Polish windjammer

A windjammer was a type of sailing ship with a large iron or steel hull, used for cargo in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. They were the grandest of cargo sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them a characteristic profile. They frequently displaced several thousand tons, and were cheaper than their wooden hulled counterparts for three main reasons: iron was stronger, and thus could enable larger ship sizes and considerable economies of scale, iron hulls took up less space and allowed for more cargo to be carried, and iron hulls were cheaper to maintain than an equivalent wooden hull.

Windjammers were mainly produced from the 1870s to the 1890s, when the steam ships began to outcompete them economically, due to their ability to hold a schedule regardless of the wind. Steel hulls also replaced iron hulls at around the same time.

From 1916 to 1917, Imperial Germany operated the SMS Seeadler windjammer as one of the last sailing ships used in war.

Windjammers were used commercially (though recognised as a dying breed) until the 1950s. They occupied something of a niche in the transport of goods from remote ports where coal and water were not available, such as parts of Australia (carrying wool or grain) and remote islands (harvesting guano). Windjammers were also used particularly for the transport of South American nitrates.

Windjammers can still be seen at international naval events like SAIL Amsterdam.

See also

• Pommern
• Kruzenshtern
• Passat
• Pamir
• Peking
• Preussen
• Gorch Fock (1933)
• Gorch Fock (1958)
• Moshulu
• Star of India

Source

• http://www.fortjefferson.com/shipwrecks/windjammer.htm
• http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/442.html
• http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/features/capehorners/the_cape_horners.pdf
• Voyaging With The Wind: An Introduction to Sailing Large Square Rigged Ships, Alan Villiers, H.M. Stationery Office 1975

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