Photograph: Preussen at sea with full sail in 1904
The Preussen square rigger was the only ship ever to have 5 masts and a full ship rigging (all square sails on all masts). Built in steel as a bulk carrier with a capacity of 8,000 tons, it was an extremely fast ship capable of reaching 20 knots and once covering 426 miles in 24 hours, and made 12 outstanding long distance travels from Hamburg to South America and even Japan.
Unfortunately, the Preussen had a dishonorable end. On its 14th voyage, a smaller ship serving passenger traffic at the English Chanel tried to cut under her bow but miscalculated how fast the giant moved and was struck. The passenger ship survived with damage to the cabins and deck but no casualties, although the Preussen took serious damage to the foremast and bow. With a compartment flooded and running the pumps non stop, the Preussen tried to enter port but was hit by a gale which eventually grounded the ship against a cliff, since sail ships are difficult to sail without a foremast or a bowsprit and tug lines would break trying to pull its mass in extreme sea; the crew was rescued after five days of nightmare, being washed by the waves as the gale hit the Preussen and damaged it further. After the crew and cargo were salvaged, attempts were made to tug the now lighter ship away from the cliff, but a second gale hit and eventually broke the hull, sinking the Preussen. Her career as “queen of the seas” lasted a bit over 8 years, from 1902 to 1910.
A friend of mine in HS had a Bronco, got T-boned, rusted body totaled, frame and drive train fine. Stuck a Pinto wagon body on it. We called it a Bronto!
Does growing up and maturing mean that you lose your will to live? I mean we survive every day until the next. But what is truly living? Is it the lack of so many responsibilities? Is it pursuing a worthy ideal?
Photograph: Richard Hell and Debbie Harry for a 1976 original photonovel on Punk Magazine, “Legend of Nick Detroit”
Debbie Harry played a neonazi who wanted to stab Nick Detroit (Richard Hell), and that was like the sanest part of the story…
PS: yesterday was my Last Polo Day, aka the last day in the year when I felt comfortable wearing a polo shirt, mornings and evenings are getting (Barcelona) chilly, like, 15 degrees.
