53°50′24″N9°24′5″E / 53.84000°N 9.40139°E /53.84000; 9.40139
 Peking | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Peking |
| Namesake | City ofBeijing |
| Owner | F. Laeisz |
| Route | Europe–Chile |
| Builder | Blohm & Voss,Steinwerder,Hamburg |
| Yard number | 205[1] |
| Launched | 25 February 1911[1] |
| Completed | May 1911[1] |
| Out of service | 1920 |
| Notes | Interned atValparaiso 1914–1920,[1] then to Italy as war reparations |
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| In service | 1920 |
| Out of service | 1923 |
 Weimar Republic | |
| Name | Peking |
| Operator | F. Laeisz |
| Route | Europe–Chile |
| Acquired | 1923 |
| Out of service | 1932 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Arethusa |
| Owner | Shaftesbury Homes |
| In service | 1932–1940, 1945–1975 |
| Out of service | 1975 |
| Homeport | Upnor,Medway |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSPekin |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Commissioned | 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 1945 |
 United States | |
| Name | Peking |
| Owner | South Street Seaport Museum |
| Acquired | 1975 |
| Out of service | 2017 |
| Homeport | New York City |
| Status | Museum ship |
 Germany | |
| Name | Peking |
| Owner | German Port Museum |
| Acquired | 2017 |
| In service | 2020 |
| Homeport | Hamburg |
| Status | Museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Flying P-Liner |
| Displacement | 3,100long tons (3,150 t) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 45 ft 7 in (13.89 m) |
| Height | 170 ft 6 in (51.97 m) |
| Draft | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Sail plan | 44,132 sq ft (4,100.0 m2) sail area |
Peking is a steel-hulled four-mastedbarque. A so-calledFlying P-Liner of theGerman companyF. Laeisz, it was one of the last generation of cargo-carryingiron-hulled sailing ships used in thenitrate trade andwheat trade aroundCape Horn.
Peking waslaunched in February 1911 and leftHamburg for her maiden voyage toValparaiso in May of the same year. After the outbreak ofWorld War I she was interned at Valparaiso and remained in Chile for the duration of the war. Awarded to theKingdom of Italy as war reparations, she was sold back to her original owners, theLaeisz brothers, in January 1923. She remained in the nitrate trade until traffic through thePanama Canal proved quicker and more economical.
In 1932, she was sold for £6,250 toShaftesbury Homes. She was first towed toGreenhithe, renamedArethusa II and moored alongside the existingArethusa I. In July 1933, she was moved to a new permanent mooring offUpnor on theRiver Medway, where she served as a children's home and training school. She was officially "opened" byPrince George on 25 July 1933. DuringWorld War II she served in theRoyal Navy as HMSPekin.
Arethusa II was retired in 1974 and sold to Jack Aron asPeking, for theSouth Street Seaport Museum inNew York City, where she remained for the next four decades. However, the Seaport NYC did not seePeking as part of its long-term operational plans, and was planning to send the vessel to the scrap yard. A 2012 offer to return the ship to Hamburg, where she was originally built, as a gift from the city of New York, was contingent upon raising anendowment in Germany to ensure the preservation of the vessel.[2]
In November 2015 the Maritim Foundation purchased the ship forUS$100.Peking is intended to become part of theGerman Port Museum (Deutsches Hafenmuseum) atSchuppen 52 in Hamburg for which€120 million of federal funds would be provided.[3][2] She was taken to Caddell Drydock,Staten Island, on 7 September 2016, to spend the winter.[4] On 14 July 2017 she was loaded on the deck of the semi-submersibleheavy-lift shipCombi Dock III for transport across the Atlantic,[5] at a cost of some €1 million, arriving atBrunsbüttel on 30 July 2017.
On 2 August 2017 she was transferred toPeters Werft, located atWewelsfleth, for a three-year refurbishment at a cost of €38 million.[3] The restoration included review ofrigging, double floorsteelplates, dismounting and remount of allmasts, docking indry dock, renewal of the steel structure, removal of thecement that filled the lower three and a half metres (11 ft) of thehull, painting, woodwork and overall refurbishment. The ship twice spent about two years in dry dock.Peking was refloated on 7 September 2018 with a primer-painted hull.Teak was reinstalled on deck. The ship was transferred on 7 September 2020 to theGerman Port Museum.[6][7]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
