The Peking

I spend a lot of time at the South Street Seaport, and often walk by the Peking.  Compared to the sleek white catamarans like the Zephyr and Hornblower that roam the East River, the Peking looks like a pirate ship, but it has no history of pirates. 

The Peking was completed in 1911 in Hamburg, Germany.  She never actually docked in New York while in service, so she does look unnatural, yet beautiful, docked at the seaport.  She was not the type of ship you’d usually see in New York.  Her route went much further south.  She was one of the very last “windjammers” used in the nitrate and wheat trade.  (A windjammer is a large sailing ship with an iron or steel hull built to carry cargo.)  The Peking and her sister ships were all known as “Flying P-Liners” as all of their names began with P.  Windjammers were being replaced in the cargo industry by steam ships, but some routes were difficult for steam ships to navigate.  One such route was around Cape Horn.  It was hard for steam ships to carry enough coal to get them around the cape, so windjammers like the Peking continued to be used into the 1930s. 

 That didn’t mean it was glamorous to be on board of the Peking!  The sailors worked four hours on four hours off 24 hours a day every day for the entire voyage which could last up to four months!  The longest recorded journey for the Peking was 107 days from Caleta  Coloso to London under the command of Captain Oellrich.   But forget the sleep schedule – these men endured extreme danger.  The waters around Cape Horn are wild and waves would often crash up over the ships decks, and the crew was at the mercy of mother nature and her wild ocean.  They didn’t have safety harnesses or redundancies as ships do today.  Their only safety harness, as one crewman described, was “strong arms.”  That is strong arms holding onto a mast as the roars over you!  They would work in hurricanes, blizzards, and any other type of weather you could imagine.  At times the ocean looked more like Niagra Falls beneath them.  Yet journey after journey, the Peking made it and continued to sail as one of the last Cape Horn sailing ships giving work an adventure to a dying breed of sailor. 

Here is a link to a documentary made by Irving Johnson called “Peking Square Rigger, Cape Horn.”  It’s about the Peking’s Journey around Cape Horn!  It is shocking to see the extreme power of the ocean tossing this ship side to side!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5dxfAJ6hdE

The Peking bravely continued in the nitrate trade until it became more economical for its owners, the Laeisz Brothers, to use the Panama Canal.  The Panama Canal made trade much easier for steam ships and it was no longer necessary to brave formidable the dangers of Cape Horn.  In 1932 the Peking was sold Shaftesbury Homes – a charity that supports children facing challenging situations.  In 1933,the Peking actually served as a children’s home and school!  (Her sister ship, the Passat, is current a youth hostel in Travemunde, Germany!)  The Peking next served in the Royal Navy during World War II.  She was then retired in 1975 and brought to her home at the South Street Seaport where she still stands today.

 

Today, the Peking is part of the South Street Seaport Museum and you can take a guided tour of her.  Some one took their super cute kids on a tour and took this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJ6pO7ZnIg  The Peking is open on select days so for information call ahead.  Here is the information the South Street Seaport Museum gives about its tours.  https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/visit/street-of-ships/peking/  It’s also fun to buy lunch and sit out on one of the many benches outdoors at the seaport and look at this beautiful ship – a time capsule from the 1911.