- Flying P-Liner "Peking": Restoration close to the original
- Two sails as a gift from sister ship "Pommern"
- Reconstructing the interior of the "Peking" is a challenge
- Renewals blend in unobtrusively
- Flying P-Liner "Peking" as a place for knowledge transfer
- Four-masted barque to become "a new Hamburg landmark"
- Interview: "We fought for every single rivet seam"
What a proud sight: the "Peking", built in 1911 by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg! One of the last four surviving Flying P-Liners, those legendary fast deep-water sailing ships of the Hamburg shipping company F. Laeisz. The main mast rises 54 metres into the sky above Wewelsfleth, here at the fitting-out quay of the Peters shipyard. There are four masts in the ship. They carry 18 yards, a boom and two gaffs. All in bright yellow, the cams white. Plus the sweeping bowsprit. Truly impressive!
The hull, 96 metres long between the perpendiculars, also shines in an impeccably fresh colour. Red antifouling on the underwater hull, the broad white band of the waterline above and finally a rich black colour. The riveted steel plates are clearly recognisable under the characteristic paint of the Laeisz ships. The former portholes in the hull from her days as a boarding ship have been closed again. However, this chapter of the ship's chequered history remains visible on closer inspection. At the beginning of July, Konstantin Jakobi, the technical manager of the "Peking", and his deputy Laura Lühnenschloß invite guests on board via the wide gangway that leads to the deck on the port side at the height of the cross mast. Both had only recently been appointed to these posts by the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (SHMH).
Latest news about the "Peking":
On 15 May 2020, SHMH officially took over the "Peking" from the interim owner, the Hamburg Maritime Foundation (see Interview with their project manager Joachim Kaiser). Jakobi and Lühnenschloß were previously involved in the three-year restoration, which began on 2 August 2017 in Wewelsfleth. The team from Peters Werft and the consortium Ingenieurbüro Löll and Technolog Services were supported by two other specialised companies during the restoration of the massive rig. Jakobi worked for Georg Albinus Boatbuilding & Rigging GmbH as a project engineer specialising in steel construction and mechanical engineering. Laura Lühnenschloß was under contract with Jochen Gnass' Oevelgönner Tauwerkstatt. The young technical management team works mainly in Hamburg and spends two days a week on the "Peking" in Wewelsfleth.
Flying P-Liner "Peking": Restoration close to the original
The 28-year-old Jakobi takes care of administration, coordination and documentation. He is still clarifying various details for the transfer to and the first berth in Hamburg. His 34-year-old colleague is primarily responsible for maintaining the rig. Lühnenschloß acquired her expertise on the traditional German ship "Thor Heyerdahl", among others. She was part of the 14-strong German-Danish team that Hamburg rigger Jochen Gnass put together from crew members of various historic tall ships to work on the "Peking" rig.
The rig of the four-masted barque has been completely restored to the condition it was in at the time when it was sailing as a cargo ship in the saltpetre trade. The full thimbles and most of the turnbuckles on the shrouds are still original and have been refurbished. Even some of the old shrouds and guys could be reused after an overhaul. All new wires are galvanised. No pressings have been made anywhere, instead splicing has been used as in the past. The riggers also protected the wires against the sun, cold and salt water in the traditional way. Firstly, they coated them with a saline solution. When rigging, they filled the cavities between the individual carding ropes with hüsing and wrapped the wire with jute strands with the beat. When bailing, five-millimetre-thick polypropylene rope was wrapped tightly around the jute strands with the Kleedkeule - against the direction of lay of the wire.
Finally, a bituminous coating was applied to protect against the weather. The pinch straps on the shrouds were painted with white anti-corrosion paint. "We preferred not to use the lead paint that was common at the time," explains Laura Lühnenschloß. She also talks about how the one- to three-panelled wooden blocks measuring eight to 15 inches were "boiled" in linseed oil varnish at a temperature of 50 degrees for at least half an hour. The two original and 16 reconstructed yards were lifted onto the masts by crane, and the winches were mounted on deck to hoist the yards.
Two sails as a gift from sister ship "Pommern"
The six newly manufactured halyard winches still have to be installed. They will be used to pull six of the nine retractable yards upwards from their resting position when the sails are set, namely the three upper masts and the three upper bows. A jib net is also to be added. "The captains of the ship handled this differently. Sometimes the 'Peking' travelled with a net, sometimes without," says Lühnenschloß. "In 1928, however, she had a jib net. And that's why she now has one again." The crew of the Flying P-Liner "Pommern" in Mariehamn on the Åland Islands have also promised two sails as a gift. "We probably won't have them for the transfer to Hamburg," says Jakobi. "And even if they were there by then, we probably won't be able to hoist them." However, this should certainly be possible later on special occasions.
The transfer to Hamburg is scheduled for Monday, 7 September. By then, the last of the extensive work that the shipyard was commissioned with will have been completed. Tugs will first manoeuvre the "Peking" from the outfitting pier through the Stör barrage. It will then travel up the Elbe to Hamburg. Over the next few years, the ship will be moored at the Bremen quay in the Hansa harbour, where space was made for the Flying P-Liner in mid-July. The general cargo ship MS "Bleichen" from the Hamburg Maritime Foundation has already been moved to a new berth.
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Until the arrival of the "Peking", dredging is still underway and two dolphins are being rammed where donut fenders are to be used. These have a hole in the centre, just like the biscuit that gives them their name. The cylinder surrounds the dolphin and floats up and down on it. Bollards for mooring lines are mounted on the fender. "The donut fenders have a far less obtrusive appearance than dolphin locks, which are always firmly attached to the hull," explains Jakobi. The "Peking" will be moored four metres away from the Bremen quay. "This means she is visibly surrounded by water all around and therefore looks much better. A ship moored directly on the quay wall always appears smaller than it actually is," explains Jakobi. The "first beautiful messenger of the future German Harbour Museum", as Jakobi calls the "Peking", will be on display in the Hansa Harbour from mid-September.
Access to the Bremen quay will be via the Hamburg Harbour Museum. In the weeks and months that follow, the necessary safety measures for visitor operations will continue on board the ship. "We have to define the walkways, hang up rubbish bins and clarify many other details," says Jakobi. In spring 2021, the "Peking" will then also be open to visitors on board. The volunteer members of the Friends of the Four-Masted Barque Peking are working intensively on the history of the ship and are developing guided tours that they will offer on board. What was left of the historic interior fittings on the bridge deck was removed at the shipyard in August 2017, catalogued and stored in a hall. The parts are still to be restored.
Reconstructing the interior of the "Peking" is a challenge
However, extensive research is still required before the majority of the former interior can be reconstructed and recreated. Work on the interior is scheduled to begin in 2021 and will be open to the public. The tour of the ship at the beginning of July already gives a good impression of what visitors can expect in the future. The forecastle, the raised foredeck, is Konstantin Jakobi's favourite place on board. From here, the entire ship can be seen aft. In the foreground is the huge anchor capstan and the crane for deploying the anchors. On the port side is one of the two large original stock anchors on deck. Laura Lühnenschloß' gaze wanders from here up to the four high masts. "Sailing round Cape Horn on the 'Peking' would be really cool," she muses. The barque rounded the notorious southern tip of South America 34 times. It's hard to imagine how murderous seas washed over the deck under the gangways.
The gangways on the so-called three-island ship connect the forecastle with the bridge house, which extends across the entire width of the centre of the hull, and the poop on the stern. For the walkway below over the new deck made of Oregon Pine and a surround made of Kambala, you will have to put on booties in some places. The final sanding of the wood has begun. Workers are still busy everywhere, including below deck. There, the two lifts are about to be installed. Two staircases also connect the decks. The aft one is very generously dimensioned as the main staircase and is completely glazed. It can be used to evacuate the ship if necessary; the glass shaft has its own smoke extraction system.
The extensive electrical system for museum operations is installed at the very bottom of the huge cargo hold. Countless cables run in wide shafts. Lighting tracks on the ceilings are connected, as are loudspeakers and smoke detectors. The electricians' scaffolding is still blocking the 85 metre wide view through the single-room ship. In the days of the cargo ship, the cargo was stored here on the bare concrete ballast. Now, double steel T-beams have been mounted on top of it, with wooden planks as flooring. To allow visitors to move around more freely in the hold, pieces have been cut out of the floor cradles and put back in place so that they can be opened up. During normal museum operations, these "doors" will be open - a contribution to making the entire ship accessible to visitors. When the doors are closed, the intervention on the cradles is barely visible.
Renewals blend in unobtrusively
This was precisely the overarching aim of the restoration: renovations should be recognisable as such, but initially blend unobtrusively into the overall historical picture. A small section of the concrete ballast in the forecastle will be removed again. In future, the steel structure of the hull will be recognisable in this field of vision. The welding battens are attached to the inside of the hull. The wooden beams, which are supported in U-profiles on the frames, used to provide rear ventilation for the cargo. The saltpetre packed in sacks should not have direct contact with the outer skin. Condensation would have damaged the important raw material for the production of fertiliser and explosives in Europe.
The cargo hold extends over two decks. A railing was erected around the large cargo hatch on the tween deck. On the main deck, the cargo hatch will in future be closed again in the classic way with tarpaulins, scarf mouldings and wedges. Further aft on the main deck, Konstantin Jakobi describes the poop as the "modern 'Peking'". Here you will find a "tramway look" with fireproof wall panels. The visitors' toilets are located on the starboard side, while the staff rooms, which also include a lounge with a kitchenette, are on the port side. In future, the four-masted barque will be looked after by a full-time crew of four. In addition to Jakobi and Lühnenschloß, two deckhands will take up their full-time positions on 1 September and will be responsible for the day-to-day work on board.
Technical Manager Jakobi is full of anticipation and optimistic that his team, supported by supervised volunteers, will be able to ensure that the ship is properly maintained in the coming years. "Of course, we benefit greatly from the fact that we are getting a ship that is practically as good as new," says the engineer. "In addition, there is no sailing operation. So we don't have to look after the engine system, and there is no wear and tear, for example due to foiling during sailing." After the restoration is before the care and maintenance: "Maintaining this large ship with its huge rigging in the condition it is now in for years to come is an immense challenge, but one that our association with its current 350 members is happy to take on; our volunteers are eager to take the 'Peking' into their care," Mathias Kahl, Chairman of the Friends of the Four-Masted Barque Peking Association, is quoted as saying in the press release on the handover of the ship to the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation.
Flying P-Liner "Peking" as a place for knowledge transfer
The SHMH would like to find additional volunteers through a corresponding appeal. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is responsible for the operational maintenance of the ship. It has earmarked almost four million euros for this in this year's budget. A good three million euros in investments are required primarily for the installation of the "Peking" berth on the Bremen quay and the necessary relocation of the MV "Bleichen". The running costs - for an initial period of ten months - have been estimated at 878,000 euros. Jakobi and Lühnenschloß want the "Peking" to be a lively place for the transfer of knowledge. Many manual skills that were taken for granted on old ships are in danger of being lost. "Rigger, for example, has long since ceased to be a skilled trade in Germany," says Lühnenschloß. "That's why it would be great to establish the 'Peking' as an international contact point for all those who are enthusiastic about traditional ships."
A framework programme is to be created for them that contributes to the preservation of traditional craftsmanship. Crew members from other traditional ships could then learn how to smarten or splice wire, for example. "As we both come from the German traditional shipping industry, we believe this idea will be supported," says Jakobi. Born in Elmshorn in 1992, he initially trained as an industrial mechanic, then studied mechanical engineering, specialising in design and development, and also graduated as a welding engineer. As a 14-year-old, he took a keen interest in the tall ship "Fridtjof Nansen" during a school trip and became a regular crew member. From then on, Jakobi sailed as an engineer and topsider and was soon in charge of extensive shipyard projects, for example when the "Fridtjof" was fitted with a new jib boom.
Before his appointment as technical director of "Peking", he had no contact with museum work and even admits that he has little use for exhibits in dusty glass cabinets. "That's why I'm really pleased that Mrs Richenberger is pursuing this very modern approach." Ursula Richenberger is project manager of the German Harbour Museum (DHM), whose lead object will be the Flying P-Liner "Peking". She works for the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation, which advises the Hanseatic city's cultural authorities on content. Born in 1970, Richenberger grew up in Zurich in Switzerland, moved to Rendsburg in Schleswig-Holstein with her parents at the age of ten and studied cultural studies in Lüneburg. Before becoming project manager of the new German Harbour Museum, she was director of the Hamburg Harbour Museum. She sees the museum of the 21st century as an "open space for the public": open spaces that are accessible around the clock should make initial contact with the institution as easy as possible.
Four-masted barque to become "a new Hamburg landmark"
Large museum artefacts, an attractive quayside and a viewing tower are intended to create an inviting external effect. The main building is to be one that keeps its finger on the pulse of the times with constantly new exhibitions and where everyone can research and explore. As a representative of the first type of globalisation ship, the "Peking" fits in perfectly with Richenberger's approach of "showing ports as hubs of global economic and socio-cultural connections". In May 2019, the long open and controversial question of location was resolved: the new building for the future German Harbour Museum is being constructed in Hamburg's new Grasbrook district, where the four-masted barque "Peking" will also find its final berth at Holthusenkai. Grasbrook is located opposite the equally young Hafen-City, on the south bank of the Norderelbe, and will be Veddel's new neighbour to the west. 6,000 people will eventually live here and 16,000 will work here. The German Harbour Museum will be the cultural heart of the area.
The current Hamburg Harbour Museum, still a branch of the Museum of Labour, will serve as a second location. Shed 50A, together with the fleet of historic ships and cranes, is to be developed into a lively technical (open-air) museum site, which will then also be open all year round. To this end, Grasbrook and Hansahafen will be connected by water to the public transport network. Ship lovers will be able to get over the fact that the "Peking" will initially be on display without a new museum in the background for the next five to ten years. As Professor Dr Hans-Jörg Czech, Director and Chairman of the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation, said at the handover of the ship by the Hamburg Maritime Foundation: "I am certain that the four-masted barque will become a new landmark for Hamburg as well as a spectacular ambassador and clearly visible symbol for the ongoing planning and realisation of the German Harbour Museum."
Interview: "We fought for every single rivet seam"
YACHT: In mid-May, you were able to hand over the "Peking" to the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation after it had been fully restored under the auspices of the Hamburg Maritime Foundation. Are you satisfied with the result?
Joachim Kaiser: Yes, very much so. Around a quarter of the ship's substance had to be replaced. This was not possible without extensive welding work; riveting would have been far too expensive. Nevertheless, we really fought for every single rivet seam in the visible area. The result is a harmonious overall appearance that sets new standards.
Does this only apply to the hull or also to the rig?
Also for the rigging. For example, thanks to the reconstructed brass winches, we were able to try out rounding the yards. That was a great experience! The reconstructed halyard winches for the bow and upper masts are still being rigged. It was only thanks to these winches that a ship of this size could be sailed at all without the need for a hundred crew members. If sails were to be added now, the "Peking" could actually set sail again. Such a restoration is therefore unrivalled!
Why is there only one anchor on deck?
We are still hoping for a miracle. The shipowner Gustav Erikson from Marieham had one of the two anchors of the "Peking" erected as a memorial to drowned sailors in the harbour of Uusikaupunki in Finland. We were therefore unable to obtain it.
You stayed on schedule with the refurbishment; was the increased budget sufficient in the end?
The fact that the refurbishment was completed on schedule is of course thanks to a large team. Everyone involved did a very good job, of which they can be very proud. What's more, we stayed within the increased budget of 34.8 million euros for the actual refurbishment. In the meantime, however, work has already begun on the "technical public refurbishment" of the ship, which is also very cost-intensive. This includes, for example, the installation of the lift to make visiting the ship barrier-free.
Including this and more
the total costs now amount to 38 million euros.
How are you feeling? Does the relief of having mastered this mammoth task outweigh the melancholy that the project is now coming to an end?
I am really relieved that the actual restoration project has been completed. The past four years have been extremely exhausting. I am still at the shipyard occasionally. But I have learnt to let go during my many past restoration projects.
Was the "Peking" the culmination of your work as a conservator of old ships?
As the father of many children, you should never talk about a favourite child. The "Peking" was certainly a very nice end to my professional life, as it was also the biggest ship of my career. But I didn't need this refurbishment for my ego.
You were brought out of retirement in 2016 to manage the "Peking" renovation. Has this really started for you?
Yes, it's actually starting now. I will be setting off on an extended summer cruise in the next few days. I'll be heading north in my old wooden boat without any hurry.
Really just for your own pleasure? Or is there not a list of harbours in the chart table where maritime treasures still worth preserving are waiting for you?
In earlier years, I actually sailed trips all the way up to Stockholm and systematically looked in every harbour to see if there were any interesting ships to be discovered. Today, there aren't really any treasures to be found. Of course, I still like to visit harbours where there are ships worth seeing that I haven't visited for a while.
Are the Åland Islands then also set to see the "Pommern" in Mariehamn, which is also part of the Flying P-Liner fleet?
I've been to the Ålands several times, most recently on my own keel. Mariehamn is indeed a place of pilgrimage and the "Pommern" is a World Heritage Site - even if it's not officially mentioned anywhere. This Flying P-Liner has hardly been changed in its lifetime. So if I happen to pass by the Ålands, I will definitely make a stopover lasting several days - if only to say hello to the charming director of the Åland Maritime Museum, Hanna Hagmark.
What will your retirement look like after the summer cruise?
I will continue to look after old ships for as long as I can. During the "Peking" refurbishment, for example, I wasn't able to get involved in the restoration of the former cargo ship "Undine" as much as I would have liked. I hope to be able to make up for that. And I will of course remain on the board of the Hamburg Maritime Foundation and will be available as an advisor.
This article first appeared in YACHT 18/2020.
