Pamir

1957

Hurricane Carrie, the last commercial sail Location: Atlantic Ocean, ~600 nmi SW of the Azores · Coordinates: 35.57°N 40.28°W · Casualties: 80 · Survivors: 6 · Depth: abyssal · not located · Cause: hurricane — Caught by Hurricane Carrie in mid-Atlantic on 21 September 1957. Capsized rapidly; survivors later described an ill-secured barley cargo that shifted and refused to trim. Only one lifeboat launched successfully. · Fate: abyssal Atlantic · Type: sail training · four-masted barque · Tonnage: 3,103 tons · Crew: 86 · Flag: West Germany · Launched: 1905 German four-masted barque, the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn (1949). Caught by Hurricane Carrie in mid-Atlantic on 21 September 1957 with 52 cadets aboard on a training voyage. An improperly trimmed barley cargo shifted; she heeled and could not right. 80 dead, six survivors. The catastrophe ended the German sail-training program for a generation and effectively closed the era of commercial sail at sea. The Vessel The Pamir was a German four-masted steel-hulled sailing ship (barque rig), built at the Blohm & Voss yard at Hamburg between 1905 and 1905 and launched on 29 July 1905. She was 114 metres long, 3,020 gross tons, and had a carrying capacity of approximately 4,500 tonnes of cargo. She was among the final generation of commercial sailing ships built for deep-water cargo trade: the "Flying P-Liners" of the F. Laeisz shipping company, which operated a fleet of large sailing ships for the Chilean nitrate and Australian grain trades into the early twentieth century. Her specific operational history was notable. She had served through two world wars in various commercial roles; she had been interned by the Allies during both world wars and had subsequently returned to commercial service. In 1951, she had been purchased by a West German consortium specifically for training purposes: she was refitted for dual use as a commercial cargo carrier and as a sail-training vessel for the West German merchant marine. The sail-training mission was a substantial commitment of the West German merchant marine rehabilitation programme of the early 1950s. The programme aimed to rebuild the West German merchant marine through the training of a new generation of officers and seamen; the Pamir (and her sister-ship Passat) were intended to provide the specific sail-training experience that would complement modern steam and diesel training. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Johannes Diebitsch, 51 The Disaster At approximately 11:00 on 21 September 1957, Hurricane Carrie's outer rainband reached Pamir's position. Wind velocity rose rapidly from force 7 to force 10 (approximately 90-100 kilometres per hour); sea state increased to approximately 7-8 metre waves; visibility reduced to less than 500 metres. The critical failure mechanism was the cargo shifting that the specific SOLAS-violation free-surface non-correction had not prevented. As Pamir began rolling heavily in the hurricane conditions, the barley cargo (approximately 3,790 tonnes) shifted to the leeward side of the cargo holds. The cumulative cargo shift produced a permanent lee-side list of approximately 15 degrees within approximately two hours of the hurricane's onset. Captain Diebitsch's response was standard: the ship's sails were progressively reduced (from full sail to bare poles, by approximately 13:30); the ship's emergency pumps were activated; and the ship's wireless equipment was used to transmit the first distress signals. The specific SOS signal was transmitted at approximately 14:00 on 21 September 1957, reporting the ship's position, the cargo shift, and the substantial list. The specific tragedy of the subsequent hours was the combination of the cargo-shift-induced list and the sustained hurricane conditions. The list progressively increased from 15 to 25 to 35 degrees over the subsequent six hours; by approximately 20:00 on 21 September 1957, the ship was on the verge of capsize. The Pamir capsized at app