The last five-masted barque - "Cobenhavn" - was built in 1921 by the Scottish shipyard "Ramage and Ferguson" by order of the Danish East Asian company after the First World War in Copenhagen.
Prehistory of ship construction:
The barque "Kobenhavn" is known as a ship, the hull of which was built twice. Its design and construction began in 1915 by Ramage & Ferguson in Leyte, Port of Edinburgh, Scotland, where the ship's hull was built. In 1916, all work stopped, the hull was converted into an oil barge, allegedly renamed the Black Dragon, and transported to the Admiralty in Gibraltar. Further use is unknown.
Sailboat construction
Regardless of the use of the first hull, at the end of World War I, the East Asian Company decided to build a second ship of the same name, using the original plans for the barque "Kobenhavn" and ordered the ship to be built at the same shipyard. After the construction of the hull and equipping it with masts, construction was temporarily suspended and the ship remained at the shipyard throughout the First World War. Finally, in 1921, construction was fully completed and a five-mast barque with a displacement of 7,900 tons came off the shipyard's slipways. The purpose of the vessel is the carriage of bulk cargo: grain, coal, etc.
In terms of size among the five-mast, it occupied an average position, but it could rightfully be called one of the most beautiful windjammers in the world due to the graceful lines of the hull and the proportionality of the mast with a slightly increased area of the upper sails.
Of course, the construction of the barge was not without technical innovations. Like France-2, Cobenhavn was equipped with a diesel engine (albeit one, not two). In a two-bladed variable-pitch propeller, the blades could be set in a position along the stream, which reduced drag when moving under sails. Rigging winches became electric. Well, and the main feature: the windjammer was not only a cargo vessel, but also a training vessel. In order to reduce the cost of maintaining the crew, the shipowners planned to hire 16-18 cadets-trainees with a full-time crew of 40 - 45 people, whose work could not be paid. Gradually, from voyage to voyage, this ratio changed towards an increase in cadets and a decrease in the number of the main crew. According to reports, the captain of the barque was H. K. Christensen.
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Exploitation:
After sea trials, in October 1921, the sailboat set off for its first long-distance round the world! - voyage, which lasted 404 days. Barque crossed the Atlantic, circled Cape Horn, visited San Francisco, Honolulu, Vladivostok, Dairen and other cities; he returned to Europe, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope. This was followed by similar flights to Argentina, Australia, Southeast Asia … Having good maneuverability when driving under a diesel engine, “Cobenhavn” became the only five-masted vehicle that passed through the Suez and Panama Canals.
The bark was successfully operated for 7 years. But his career ended tragically.
Last voyage and disappearance
On December 14, 1928, with 16 full-time crew and 45 cadets on board, he left Buenos Aires and headed for the south-east. The vessel was to reach Australia in ballast, where it would receive the cargo - wheat - and deliver it to Europe.
On December 21, a communication session with the sailboat took place, after which the Cobenhavn disappeared. What caused his death - a sudden storm, a collision with an iceberg, or a huge “killer wave” encountered in the “roaring forties” - will remain a mystery.
On December 22, the ship did not get in touch and from that moment it is considered missing. Scary Finds:
The only traces of the disaster that occurred were 7 skeletons found in 1932 in the Namib Desert. The buttons with the anchors revealed that they were cadets of the Danish merchant fleet. This means that at least one boat from "Cobenhavn" reached the coast, but the exhausted sailors died on the deserted African coast from hunger and thirst. No boats or any other accessories were found from the sailboat.
The question - why the last five-mast giant died - remained open.
One of the most remarkable ghost ships of the 20th century. - Danish training sailing ship "Cobenhavn". On December 4, 1928, she left Buenos Aires to continue her voyage around the world. On board the sailing ship was a crew and 80 cadets - students of the naval school. A week later, when the Cobenhavn had already covered about 400 miles, a radiogram was received from the aircraft. The command reported that the voyage was successful and that everything was fine on the ship. The further fate of the sailboat and the people who were on it remains a mystery. The ship did not arrive at the home port of Copenhagen. It is said that he was subsequently met many times in various parts of the Atlantic. The sailboat allegedly went under full sail, but there were no people on it.
In January 1929, the inhabitants of the Tristan da Cunha Islands, located in the southern Atlantic halfway between the coast of Brazil and the Cape of Good Hope, saw a graceful sailboat heading straight for the treacherous reefs off the coast. The ship was driven by the stormy wind. He came close enough to be sure that there were no signs of life on board. The wide white stripe on the hull - a distinctive mark of training sailing ships - suggested that it was "Cobenhavn".
At a distance of half a mile from the island, the ship fell into the grip of a powerful current. The descending fog hid the sailboat from the eyes of the islanders. When the storm subsided, attempts were made to track down the ship. However, neither himself nor his wreckage was found. A few days later, a boat and a machine gun cover were thrown ashore, but there were no inscriptions on them that would help establish their ownership. Soon the version about "Cobenhavn" was finally rejected. It became known that on that January day near the islands of Tristan da Cunha passed the four-masted Finnish barque "Ponaps".
Another message about "Cobenhavn" in the same 1929 came from Chilean fishermen. While fishing off the southern coast of Chile, this sailboat was seen in a violent storm. He was already without masts. A careful survey by the rescue ships of the vast area indicated by the fishermen could not shed light on the mystery of the ship's disappearance.
The disappearance of a large training vessel with all the people, which had proved its excellent seaworthiness over the years of trouble-free sailing, excited the Danish public. Many of the cadets who participated in the training voyage on the Cobenhavn came from wealthy families. Their parents, not hoping for quick and effective actions of the official authorities, themselves equipped a special vessel to search. But his voyage was ineffectual. In the end, the maritime experts concluded that the Cobenhavn sank so quickly that the crew did not have time to use the lifeboats and people died.
However, the story with the Danish training ship did not end there. On the night of October 7-8, 1959, the captain of the Dutch dry-cargo ship "Straat Magelhaes" Pete Alger, being at the southern tip of the African continent, saw a large sailing ship suddenly appeared. With full sail it was sailing towards the Magelhas. With difficulty Alger managed to avoid a collision. Before the crew had time to recover, the sailboat disappeared into the fog. In his report to the naval authorities, the captain reported that the sailboat was very much like the Cobenhavn.
