Peking

Peking (HM14VS)

Location: New York, NY 10038 New York County
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Country: United States of America
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N 40° 42.317', W 74° 0.183'

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Inscription

1911

Peking was launched in 1911 at Hamburg, Germany by the Blohm & Voss shipyard. She was owned by the F. Laeisz Company of that port, who used here to carry fuel and manufactured goods to the West Coast of South America, around Cape Horn, and return to European ports with nitrate mined in northern Chile. The nitrate was used to fertilize the worn-out fields of Europe and to manufacture chemicals for various applications, including munitions.

With her four-masted bark rig, steel hull and masts, and midship bridge deck, Peking represents the final generation of sailing ships built for world trade. Thought a product of the 20th century, she still sailed in the traditional way, with few labor-saving devices or safety features. Her crew followed the standard sailing vessel routine of four hours on duty and four hours off duty, alternating around the clock, seven days a week.

The number of sails set depended on the strength of the wind. When it increased , the sails had to be taken in quickly, no matter what the weather conditions. A ton or more of heavy canvas had to be gathered up by hauling on lines from the deck. For the final furling, the men had to climb "ratlines" almost as high as a seventeen-story building, go out on swaying footropes rigged from the yards, and bundle up the sail with their bare hands.

Peking was retired in 1933, when steamers using the Panama Canal took over what was left of the nitrate trade. She served as a nautical school for boys, moored in a British river, until she was acquired by the museum in 1974.

Extreme length: 377.5' Draft: 16' (current) Net tonnage: 2,883Length on deck: 320' Rig: Four-masted bark Displacement tonnage: 8,400 (fully loaded) Construction: Steel hull Rig height: 170.5' Gross tonnage: 3,100
Details
HM NumberHM14VS
Tags
Placed BySouth Street Seaport Museum
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, September 21st, 2014 at 8:29pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 584218 N 4506519
Decimal Degrees40.70528333, -74.00305000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 42.317', W 74° 0.183'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 42' 19.02" N, 74° 0' 10.98" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)646, 212, 917, 845
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 16 E River Piers, New York NY 10038, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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