The Republican journal., 1906-11-22
THE R. G. RICkMfRS.

To Germany belongs the credit of
possessing not merely the fastest
steamships atloat, but also the largest
sailing vessels. The credit for the lat
ter distinction is due largely to the
Rickmers Rice Mill, Freight, and Ship
building Company, at Bremerhaven
Geestemunde, who during the past few
years have built several unusually
large sailing vessels, chiefly for the
handling of their enormous rice trade.
The latest and largest of these ships is
the r. C. Rickmers, which recently ar
rived at New York on her maiden out
ward trip to Saigon and Bangkok by
way of Cape Horn.
The Rickmers differs from her pre-
decessors in the sailing fleet of this
company, not merely in size, but in the
fact that decided innovation is being
tried by providing her with an auxiliary
steam engine, the object of which is to
assist the ship across the belt of Gains,
and also in her movements in harbor
when coming to an anchorage, Warping
alongsid dock, or threading her way
through entrance channels and other
narrow waterways.
The spirited illustration of this great
ship which appears in the Scientific
American gives an excellent impress
sion of her great length, graceful sheer,
lofty bow, and towering spread of can
vas. She is shown with practically
everything set, and bowling along at 10
to IA knots on her favorite point of
sailing, which is with the wind over
the quarter. On deck the Rickmers
measures AL feet in length; her ex-
IRENE beam is So feet inches; her
&C. 81, inohoc f,,ll Ivy
loaded, and her nodded depth is 80 feet.
Her gross tonnage is 5,54s tons, and Oh
her maximum draft she displaces II 1850
tons. She carries, of course, huge
spread of canvas, the vertical height
from the deck to the truck of the MAIN
mast being l77 feet, and the length OF
the main yard 100 feet. There are five
masts, known respectively as the fore,
main, middle, mlzZen and spanker. All
of the masts are of steel, except that
at the extreme top of each there is a g.
foot wooden pole. The total spread of
canvas is so, 900 square feet, and as the
captain does not hesitate to hang onto
eyery rag of this, long after smaller
craft are shortening sail, it can readily
he understood that the dimensions of
the masts, and the number and size Of
the steel rope Of the wire rigging, are
unusual. The mainmast, which is built
of half-inch steel plates, measures three
feet in external diameter. To stay and
hold up to its work the towering spread
of canvas on this mast alone calls for
no less than thirty shrouds and back
STAYS. fifteen on each side. First there
are six shroudS of special 1-2-lnch
steel wire; then come six backstays OF
the same dimensions, two backstays of
41-2-inch wire and one 4-inch; and so
great is the holding strength of these
! fifteen ropes, that in the strongest
breeze there is very little perceptible
slackening of the lee shrouds or back
stays. A rather surprising feature in
| this ship is that in spite of her great
size, all sails are worked by hand by
means of special windlasses. The ships
complement consists OF fifty-nlne
hands, two officers and two captains,
the ship carrying two captains on the
maiden trip only.
The auxiliary equipment consists of a
| triple expansion engine of $50 indicat-
ed horsepower, steam for which is pro-
vided by two boilers; and in the side
and between deck bunkers fuel sup
ply of $50 tons can be carried. 1t was
| found that, in moderate weather, when
the ship is in ballast, the engines can
drive her at speed of knots per hour;
when she is loaded the speed under
steam is from to Z knots. Because of
the great length and easy lines of the
Rickmers and her large spread of can
vas, she is capable, under favorable
conditions, of sailing faster than any
ship afloat. and probably faster than
any ship that was ever built. On the
trip to New York, for period of eight
Is 81 knots per hour, and Captain A.
Walsen informed our representative
that judging from this performance
and the ability of the ship to carry he1
canvas in heavy weather, she would