*** Welcome to piglix ***

Peking (ship)

Peking docked in New York City
The Peking was docked at the South Street Seaport in New York City, where she acted as a maritime museum
History
 German Empire
Name: Peking
Operator: F. Laeisz
Route: EuropeChile
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 1911
Fate: Interned at Valparaiso, and handed over to Italy as war reparations
 Kingdom of Italy
Fate: Sold back to F. Laeisz, 1923
 Weimar Republic
Name: Peking
Operator: F. Laeisz
Route: EuropeChile
Acquired: 1923
Fate: Sold to Shaftesbury Homes, 1932
 United Kingdom
Name: Arethusa II
Homeport: Upnor, Medway
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Pekin
In service: World War II
 United States
Name: Peking
Acquired: 1975
Homeport: New York City
Fate: Museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type: Flying P-Liner
Displacement: 3,100 long tons (3,150 t)
Length:
  • 377 ft 6 in (115.06 m) sparred length
  • 320 ft (98 m) length on deck
Beam: 45 ft 7 in (13.89 m)
Height: 170 ft 6 in (51.97 m)
Draft: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Sail plan: 44,132 sq ft (4,100.0 m2) sail area

Coordinates: 40°42′19″N 74°00′11″W / 40.70528°N 74.00306°W / 40.70528; -74.00306

The Peking is a steel-hulled four-masted barque. A so-called Flying P-Liner of the German company F. Laeisz, it was one of the last generation of windjammers used in the nitrate trade and wheat trade around the often treacherous Cape Horn.

Peking was made famous by the sail training pioneer Irving Johnson; his footage filmed on board during a passage around Cape Horn in 1929 shocked experienced Cape Horn veterans and landsmen alike at the extreme conditions Peking experienced.

She was in Valparaiso at the outbreak of World War I, and was awarded to Italy as war reparations. She was sold back to the original owners, the Laeisz brothers in 1923, and continued in the nitrate trade until traffic through the Panama Canal proved quicker and more economical.

In 1932, she was sold for £6,250 to Shaftesbury Homes. She was first towed to Greenhithe, renamed Arethusa II and moored alongside the existing Arethusa I. In July 1933, she was moved to a new permanent mooring off Upnor on the River Medway, where she served as a children's home and training school. She was officially "opened" by HRH Prince George on 25 July 1933. During World War II she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Pekin.


...
Wikipedia

...