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The ''Potosi'' was a five-masted steel barque built in 1895 by the German sailing ship company F. Laeisz as a trading vessel.〔("built in Germany for Reederei F. Laeisz for her famous Flying P Line"—Peter D. Jeans: ''Seafaring Lore and Legend: A Miscellany of Maritime Myth, Superstition'' )〕 As its shipping route was between Germany and Chile, it was designed to be capable of withstanding the rough weather encountered around Cape Horn.〔1890: ''At the end of the 19th century sailing ships and steamships are in equal use with the number of large sailing vessels on the decline. Yet not for the F. Laeisz shipping line whose famed sailing ships will continue to race around Cape Horn for another four decades. Even today, the "Flying P-Line" sailing ships are world-renowned.'' 1895: ''The ultimate of the "Flying P Liner" sailing ships, the POTOSI, is a five-masted ship designed to withstand rough weather. It completes two round trips to Chile per year.''—(www.laeisz.de )〕 The ''Potosi'' was named after the eponymous Bolivian town of Potosí (the highest city in the world), the name beginning with "P" according to a Laeisz' tradition begun in the 1880s.〔''principally through the vision of the German shipowner Ferdinand Laeisz with his famous Flying "P" Line''—Rigel Crockett: ''Fair Wind and Plenty of it: A Modern-day Tall Ship Adventure'' ()〕 The ''Potosi'' and sister ships became known as the Flying P Line〔''part of the latter's famous Flying P Line''—Max Wood ''Sailing Tall: Around the World on the Square-Rigged Passat (1946-1948)'' ()〕 and were described by Robert Carter as "without doubt, the most successful fleet of sail-driven ships ever assembled under one flag..."〔''Without doubt, the most successful fleet of sail-driven ships ever assembled under one flag were those operated by Ferdinand Laeisz of Germany. ... few sailing ships were built in Britain that could equal the size, power and strength of the Laeisz 'P' Liners, as they were called ... the nickname 'Flying P Line', which referred to the speed and power of the ships as much as to their names.''—Robert Carter: ''Windjammers'', Rosenberg Publishing Pty, Limited, 2004, ISBN 1-877058-04-1 ()〕〔''the famous Line of the Flying P' nitrate ships out of Hamburg, from the House of Laeisz.''—Alan Villiers ''Pioneers of the seven seas'' ()〕 The ''Potosi'' had five masts and was rigged as a barque, meaning that the first four masts were Square-Rigged, each carrying six sails, and the fifth mast carried fore-and-aft-sails. She was the third windjammer in the world merchant fleet with that kind of rigging, after the ''France I'' of the Antoine-Dominique Bordes line of Bordeaux, and the first German (auxiliary) steel barque ''Maria Rickmers'' of the Rickmers line. In total, within the world merchant fleet, there were only six windjammers of this class of five-masted barque rigging, with four masts having carried six sails on each mast. The ''Potosi's'' sister ship, ''Preussen'' also had five masts, but was square rigged on each mast.〔Tony Gibbons, ''The Encyclopedia of Ships'', Silverdale Books (2001), ISBN 1-85605-591-4〕 The idea of building such a ship for the Laeisz fleet came from the famous Laeisz-captain Robert Hilgendorf, who was to become the ''Potosi's'' first master. His considerations and ideas had a great influence on the ship's design and he was the supervising ship officer when the huge barque was under construction. She was assigned the call sign ''RKGB'', and as with all P-liners her hull was black with a white waterline and a red underwater ship—the colours of the German flag at that time. Author Daniel S. Parrott describes the features of the "Flying P-Liners" and says "The effectiveness of the Flying P-Line lay not only in the construction of the vessel but also in their management." He also points out that "none of the four- or five-masted Laeisz ships ever foundered or was dismasted in a Cape Horn storm in the course of countless voyages."〔''this process of experimentation, which culminated in two monstrous sailing ships: the 4,029-ton, five-masted barque Potosi, launched in 1895, and the 5,081-ton, five-masted, full-rigged ship Preussen in 1920. Regardless of the sailing cruise liners of recent times, these two Laeisz ships remain the last word on square rig. Operational lessons learned by the company and its shipmasters through routine roundings of the Horn benefited the new vessels and led to increasingly efficient voyages. By the early 1900s, Laeisz had come to favor the four-masted barque of around Pamir's size. The P-Liners employed a number of innovations to make them stronger, safer, and more efficient than other ships of their type. Steel hulls and spars and wire standing rigging enabled the vessels to be driven hard. None of the four- or five-masted Laeisz ships ever foundered or was dismasted in a Cape Horn storm in the course of countless voyages. Safety nets helped prevent crew from falling overboard. A midships bridge deck provided an elevated working platform to break the force of boarding seas and diminish the volume of water on deck at any given time. Laborsaving devices such as the Jarvis brace winch made it possible to brace the yards with only one watch. Such improvements increased efficiency while reducing injury and crew size. The effectiveness of the Flying P-Line lay not only in the construction of the vessel but also in their management.'' – Daniel S. Parrott: (''Tall Ships Down: The Last Voyages of the Pamir, Albatross, Marques, Pride of Baltimore, and Maria Asumpta'' ), McGraw-Hill Professional ISBN 0-07-143545-X〕 During World War I, she was interned in Chile, and was then given away as reparation. Under Chilean ownership, she was renamed the ''Flora'' (sign ''QEPD''). In 1925, she caught fire in the Atlantic and eventually had to be sunk by artillery. == History == The ''Potosi'' was launched in 1895 at the shipyard of J. C. Tecklenborg AG, Geestemünde and was used in the saltpeter trade (''Salpeterfahrt'') between Chile and Germany, setting record speeds in the process, due to her excellent sailing characteristics. She made twenty seven "round voyages" (Hamburg to Chile and back) under five captains between 1895 and 1914. Her first master, the legendary sea captain Robert Hilgendorf, sailed her up to 1901. Capt. Georg Schlüter (2 round voyages), Jochim Hans Hinrich Nissen (10), Johann Frömcke (3), and Robert Miethe (4) followed. On September 23, 1914 the ''Potosi'' was interned at Valparaiso as she entered the harbour, since the war had begun. In 1917 while moored in Chile, she was sold to the F. A. Vinnen shipping company of Bremen, but on October 2, 1920 she was given to France as a war reparation. The French government sold her to Argentina which transferred her to the ''Floating Docks Co.'' of Buenos Aires. There she laid up for three years when she was eventually purchased by the Chilean company ''González, Soffia & Cía.'' of Valparaíso, and renamed the ''Flora''. August Oetzmann, a former Laeisz captain, sailed her to Hamburg with a cargo of nitrate in 110 days (due to less able seamen). Many people of Hamburg came to welcome the old lady and wished Laeisz to purchase her from the Chilean owner but her former owners didn't. The ''Flora'' sailed back to Chile (May 25) via Cardiff (July 17) to take up a cargo of coal for Mejillones. On September 15, 1925, en route to Cape Horn, the ship caught fire off the Patagonian coast northwest of the Falkland Islands (at 50°17.5'S, 61° 42'W). Captain A. Oetzmann decided to set course to Comodoro Rivadavia, reaching the harbour, which was merely a bay with a sandy beach, a long wooden pier, and several petrol tanks, on September 18, 1925. He anchored the ship five miles (8 km) off the coast in the roads of Comodoro Rivadavia and alerted the harbour authorities to fight the fire in the ship. As no proper equipment was available, it took three days before help came. The ordered fire engine that came was not able to extinguish the fire. Next day a huge explosion ripped her steel decks apart. The main mast fell overboard pulling the rest of the rigging with it except for the foremast. A tug tried to tow her away from the petrol tanks, and succeeded after several attempts. The ''Flora'' ran aground on the sandy beach. The seamen dropped the anchor and took everything usable from the ship. The fire kept burning while the ship's hull was repeatedly lifted by the waves and slammed into the shore. The coal-filled hull burned for some days. One morning the ship had diappeared from the beach. The rudderless hull was found a few days later floating off the coast and to the north of Comodoro Rivadavia. The Argentine cruiser ''Patria'' sank the burning hull of the former famous ship by gunfire on October 19, 1925.〔(''Buques Perdidos en el area de la Prov. de Santa Cruz'' ) ''Historia y Arqueología marítima'' 〕 The wreck lies near the position . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Potosi (barque)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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