Sunday, April 3, 2016

the Finnish sailing ship the 'Pamir' being towed in Sydney Harbour by the tug 'Hero' in April 1947


The Pamir was built at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg, launched on 29 July 1905. She had a steel hull and displacement of 3,020 GRT (2,777 net). She had an overall length of 114.5 metres (375 ft), a beam of about 14 metres (46 ft) and a draught of 7.25 metres (23.5 ft). Three masts stood 51.2 metres (168 ft) above deck and the main yard was 28 metres (92 ft) wide. She carried 3,800 m² (40,900 ft²) of sails and could reach a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h). Her regular cruise speed was around 8 to 9 knots.

After Finland entered WW2 on the side of Germany on 22 June 1941, the Pamir was on the wrong side when she entered Wellington harbour and was seized by the NZ government on 3 August 1941. Ten commercial voyages were made under the New Zealand flag: five to San Francisco, three to Vancouver, one to Sydney and her last voyage across the Tasman from Sydney to Wellington carrying 2700 tons of cement and 400 tons of nail wire.

Pamir was returned to Finland in 1948.  More info

pic from the Australian Maritime Museum website

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