Gone are the days when the seas and oceans were sailed by sailing ships. But back in the middle of the 20th century, and today, too, in different water areas of the world, "white-winged beauties" were and are still encountered, on which cadets of nautical schools mostly practice. The West German barque "Pamir" also belonged to this category.
The sailing ship "Pamir" was built at the beginning of the 20th century. After changing several owners, it became the property of the Finnish businessman Gustav Erikson. As a sailboat lover and a wealthy man, he acquired five barges at once. For a long time they regularly served the merchant fleet, but after the death of the ship owner, the heirs put them up for auction. For a long time they stayed at the docks of the port of Antwerp, until another admirer of sailing ships, the German shipowner Schlieven, who bought two of them - the Passat and the Pamir - drew attention to the ships.
Dual purpose
In 1951, they were towed to the port of Lübeck and docked, and after restoration they were sent to sea. The main task was to train cadets of nautical schools. This happened during the voyages for the transportation of goods on ocean lines. For six years, Pamir mainly transported grain from Buenos Aires. In August 1957, he embarked on another voyage to Hamburg with 86 crew members on board, of which 52 were cadets.
On September 20, the Pamir radio operator went on the air and reported the coordinates of the ship, which was in the Azores region. In response, a warning was sent that a hurricane was forming in the Cape Verde Islands. The captain of the Pamir, Johann Dibisch, was not particularly worried. The sailboat, which has repeatedly fallen into storms, has withstood all the tests with dignity.
But on September 22 the operator of the German coastal radio station received an SOS signal from the Pamir. The captain of the American bulk carrier President Taylor was the first to respond: "I'm going to the disaster area!" A few hours later he reached the point where the Pamir crashed.
The last radiogram received from the sailboat read: “We've lost all the sails, the ship is heeling to the port side! We ask for urgent help! However, the loss of sailing equipment for ships of this class was not critical. And the fact that no more signals for help were received was regarded as a breakdown of the radio antenna.
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At about one in the morning "President Taylor" left for the designated area. Soon a Liberian tanker and a British destroyer joined the search. By September 23, nearly 60 vessels were already participating in the search. Soon they managed to find several lifeboats from the Pamir, but, alas, without people. Finally, on September 24, an observer from the dry-cargo ship Saxon discovered another dinghy directly on course. It turned out that, catching on its sides, five people are swimming in the water. These were the cadets who told about the disaster.
Keel up
Captain Deebish did not immediately realize the danger posed by the storm. But when the blows of the elements began, he was not taken aback and ordered to remove the main sails, leaving only the lower and oblique sails for maneuver. But by that time, the bark turned its side to the wave, and the rolling began. Attempts to place the Pamir, if not downwind, then at least with their nose to the wave, were not crowned with success. Then Deebish ordered to send a distress signal. Now he understood that it was not the sailboat that needed to be saved, but the people.
At this moment, the Pamir plunged abruptly to the port side, plunging the masts into the water. But then he straightened up. Like a tumbler doll, he swayed a few more times, until a huge wave hit his deck. The barque flew up onto its crest, froze for a moment, after which it began to roll heavily, and the next wave finally capsized the ship.
The surviving cadets themselves wondered how they managed to lower the boat into the raging ocean. According to them, several more groups managed to carry out this operation, so the search continued. The lucky ones said that when they saw a dry cargo ship going on them, they seemed to go mad and rushed into the water to swim to the savior. Then they did not think that three days of drifting without water and food could make this swim the last in their life. But, fortunately, everything worked out.
During the survey of the shipwreck area, in addition to the wreckage, it was possible to find another boat with a half-dead cadet. The search operation was eventually terminated. In connection with the death of the Pamir, a government commission was created, which found that the disaster was most likely due to a violation of the rules for the transportation of bulk cargo. For ships of this class, grain should be transported in bags, and not in bulk in the holds, which, during rolling, led to the overturning of the vessel.
Leonid LUZHKOV