Aeolus (ship, 1872)
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The Aeolus was a German barque that was used in tramp shipping around the world from 1872 to 1893 . She was lost in a storm on the west coast of Jutland on September 23, 1899 . Eleven so-called meteorological journals have been preserved from her travels , which are now in the archive of the German Maritime Weather Office . It was named after the Greek wind god Aiolos .
Technical specifications
- Bielbrief: March 18, 1872
- Size: 187.8 Commerzlast
- Construction costs: 13,778 thalers
Type of construction and ownership
The Aeolus was characterized by an extremely long quarter deck that almost reached the main mast . The cabin that enclosed the mizzen mast was also located here . At the stern there was a small structure for the rudder including the toilet . The deck house with Logis and the galley was around the foremast built around.
In addition to the client, there were 12 other shareholders, including the captain Jacob Diedrich Schuhmacher, the owner of the shipyard, Hinrich Eylers, and three widows from Elsfleth and Brake .
to travel
There are no detailed records of the Aeolus' first voyages . The maiden voyage led with a general cargo from Bremen via Montevideo to Buenos Aires and Chile . The captain was the shipowner Jacob Diedrich Schuhmacher from Oberhammelwarden . He led the ship until 1877. His successor was Hermann Carl Friedrich Reiners from Oldenburg , an "unusually attentive observer" according to Karting:
“His diaries are full of records of peculiarities in the literal sense of the word, be it celestial phenomena such as comets , falling stars or ball lightning , or discoloration of the water or accumulations of seaweed and driftwood, or observations on swimming or flying animals: Nothing escaped him attentive eye. Nor did he hold back with the experiences he made as a captain in the ports with authorities, pilots , workers, ship dealers, etc. Many of his reports were published in the "Annalen der Hydrographie" and thus benefited his other captain colleagues. "
Examples of the ship's voyage time based on Reiners' records:
- 1878: Vlissingen to San José de Guatemala : 118 days,
- 1879: Corinto / Nicaragua to Falmouth / England : 128 days,
- Newcastle upon Tyne / England to Montevideo: 61 days,
- 1880: Montevideo to Coronel / Chile: 42 days. From there to Talcahuano : 2 days. From there to Buenos Aires: 36 days. From Montevideo to Queenstown / Ireland : 64 days,
- 1881: Hamburg - Valparaíso : 109 days,
On May 24, 1881, the Aeolus was almost hit by a meteor near Cape Horn at position 57 ° 34´S / 69 ° 40´W , as Reiners reported:
“At 8 o'clock we had a heavy snow shower. I was standing in the cabin, suddenly I noticed a bright glow on deck, at the same time I was electrified in all my limbs. I jumped on deck immediately, and was lucky to see a glowing ball about ½ meter in diameter falling into the water on the port side eight feet from the ship between the main and Besahns mast, whereupon there was a terrible bang. The understeer & the man at the helm wailed terribly at their eyes, both were blinded for a few minutes. Then two sailors rushed backwards and said, Capt., What was that, we were both beaten on deck. They were trembling all over so that I heard my teeth chatter, most likely an effect of the meteor. Immediately after the terrible bang, there was a thunderclap. "
From 1885 the Aeolus was used almost exclusively on the American west coast; her travels led to Apia / Samoa and Levuka / Fiji Islands . On March 4, 1891, on a trip with a load of copra from New Ireland to Hamburg, off Australia , she got caught in a hurricane . a. the rudder was badly damaged. She therefore had to call at Brisbane as an emergency port, which was on March 18.
In February 1889, in Marseille , Captain Reiners handed over command to Captain W. Frerichs from Hammelwarden. The barque continued to be used in Central and South America and visited 1892 a. a. Amapala / Honduras and Corinto / Nicaragua. Frerichs continued the meteorological reports from Reiners.
Use in the North and Baltic Seas
On August 26, 1895, the Aeolus was the last wooden ship to be sold by the Hustede brothers to the Alsen Portland cement factories in Hamburg . From Itzehoe she made trips to Norway , Sweden , Finland and England , mostly to transport poles for cement drums . In England coal was taken over for the wooden ports.
In September 1899 the Aeolus took over under Captain Krenzin in Christiania Stabholz for Itzehoe and got into a severe storm on the 23rd off the west coast of Jutland. The ship leaked and was approaching Jammer Bay . Krenzin decided to put the barque on the beach, where it hit across. The ordinary seaman Stein went overboard and drowned. The crew swam ashore as the Aeolus threatened to break apart at any moment. Krenzin was hit by the falling foremast and died on the spot. The remaining eight crew members were brought ashore by Danish rescue workers and housed in Söndervig . The wreck of the Aeolus was completely crushed by the waves within the next few days.
Illustrations and models
A captain's picture (oil painting) from 1872 of the Aeolus and a model of the barque are in the Maritime Museum of the Oldenburg Lower Weser . The model differs considerably from the actual design of the ship, which is known from a half-model and the painting, which have since been lost. The painting and a ship plan are reproduced by Pawlik.
literature
- Herbert Karting: History of the Lühring shipyard in Hammelwarden and the sailing ships built there. Volume 1: From wood to steel. (1860-1909). HM Hauschild, Bremen 1993, ISBN 3-926598-97-2 , pp. 38-48.
- Peter-Michael Pawlik: From the Weser into the world. Volume 2: The history of the sailing ships from Weser and Hunte and their shipyards from 1790 to 1926. Elsfleth - Brake - Oldenburg. HM Hauschild, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-89757-150-1 , pp. 314-316.