Maria Rickmers was a five-masted barque, one of the only of her kind. She was launched in 1891 to carry rice between East Asia and Germany, and sailed on her maiden voyage in 1892. The ship was unstable, and she was last seen while sailing back to Germany. Her last confirmed sighting was off Indonesia that July, although a vessel matching the barque's unique description was spotted off the Azores in November and a message in a bottle that claimed the ship sank in December.
During the 1890s, the proliferation of steamships reduced profits produced by sailing ships. In response, several companies ordered large five-masted barques that could carry immense amounts of cargo with less crew and lower costs.[1] One company was the German firm Rickmers Reismuhlen, which ordered such a ship to carry rice from Burma to the company's mills in Bremen. The ship, named Maria Rickmers, had a length of 114 metres (375ft), beam of 15 metres (48ft), draught of 7.6 metres (25ft), displacement of 3,822 tons, and a complement of 40. She was equipped with a double bottom and a 750 horsepower (560 kilowatts)triple expansion engine that turned a double bladed feathering propeller, which could produce 7 knots (13km/h; 8.1mph) in calm weather. Her five masts carried 57,000 square feet (5,300m2) of sail.[1]
The ship was the second five-masted barque ever built. The design rapidly lost popularity as the ships were not economically successful. When launched, Maria Rickmers was the largest sailing ship built in the United Kingdom[1] and one of the largest sailing ships in the world.[2] She was built by John Russell's shipyard in Glasgow, launched on 18 December 1891, and completed in March 1892.[3]
Voyage
The first leg of her maiden voyage, with a load of coal from the United Kingdom to Singapore, took 82 days. Large barques were unstable, a characteristic exacerbated when fully loaded. The voyage was difficult as the ship was unstable, hard to control, cumbersome, and slow. Rickmers was unsatisfied, and sent a harsh message to the ship's captain, which blamed him for the issues. The captain died soon after, which left the ship under the command of the chief mate. Maria Rickmers then traveled to Saigon to load rice before sailing to Bremen. Her last confirmed sighting was on 24 July 1892, off the coast of Anjer.[4][5]
The captain of Antioco Accame stated he spotted a five-masted ship with a funnel while sailing 300 nautical miles (560km; 350mi) west of the Azores on 11 November. Another crewmember objected to the description and stated they passed a five-masted ship on 8 October while 400 nautical miles (740km; 460mi) off Cape Verde.[6] In 1894, a tin box was found near Greenock that bore the ship's name. Inside was a note that claimed the ship was sinking on 12 December 1892.[7]William Fairburn theorized that the ship's new captain was pressured by the company to sail as fast as possible on the return trip, which lead the unstable vessel to capsize and kill the entire crew.[5]
1 = Due to enemy action. 2 = Maiden revenue-earning voyage.
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German Empire