''Detmar'' was an 1869-built, long, German two-masted wooden

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

. It was owned by W. Philippi & C and had a home port of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. On 26 February 1894 the ship was driven ashore and wrecked near

Terschelling Terschelling (; ; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. ...

, the Netherlands. The crew members were rescued by local fishermen, who were later rewarded by the Emperor of Germany. Much of the cargo was salvaged and sold, as well as the inventory and the wreck itself. For over a year after the disaster, bags of

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

seeds washed up on Terschelling.

Ship details

''Detmar'' was a German two-masted wooden

, built in 1869 by Focke Gebrüder at Bardenfleth. The ship was long and had a beam of and was used as a cargo vessel. It measured 273 grt and was owned by Wilhelm Philippi & Company, with a

home port A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull. In the cruise industry the term "home port" is also oft ...

Fate

At about the end of November 1893, ''Detmar'' sailed from the island of Ibo,

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

for

, Germany, under command of captain Marks, with a cargo of

sesame seeds Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

and

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

. Marks died during the voyage before reaching the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, and was buried during an intermediate call at Falmouth, England. H. Schacht from Hamburg became captain, but as it was not possible to find a German

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

, a British

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

was taken onboard and the ship continued its voyage from Falmouth on 24 February. During the late evening of 26 February, ''Detmar'' was stranded at , on the western part of

, the Netherlands. Water was coming into the ship. The eight crew members were rescued by local fishermen from Terschelling, using the fishing vessels ''TS 53'' of Iemke Kooiman, ''TS 58'' of Christiaan Kuiper and ''TS 1'' of Steven Wiegman. The salvage steamer ''Neptunus'' also went from Nieuwediep to assist the ship. However, the ship was considered lost, and sank into the sand. On 4 March ''Detmar'' began to break up, while salvage was ongoing, and a week later the ship had completely broken up. In May 1895, more than a year after the disaster, full and empty sesame seed bags were still being washed up on Terschelling.

Salvage

Soon after the accident, part of the inventory and cargo was recovered. It was stated to be dangerous work for the salvors due to the bad weather. There were negotiations to outsource the salvage operation. A large chain was recovered making the ship lighter. The work had to be carried out by divers and, by 1 March 1894, bags of seads were salvaged. Salvaged cargo was shipped to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the first barges arriving on 4 March with 2517 bales of seads. Salvaging continued until 8 March, with daily updates given in Dutch newspapers.

Sales

On 12 March the wreck was sold in a public sale for an amount of ƒ75,50. Two days later the inventory was auctioned for ƒ1045.60. On 22 March a sale was held in Amsterdam of 287 pieces of

grenadilla ''Dalbergia melanoxylon'' (African blackwood, grenadilla, or mpingo) in French ''Granadille d'Afrique'' is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea, to southern regions of ...

wood with a total weight of 13000 kg, which fetched ƒ4479.

Court case

On 3 April 1894 the office of the Maritime Board of Inquiry (in German: ''Seeamt'') in Hamburg ruled on who was responsible for the ship's stranding and sinking. It was stated that the British pilot failed to warn the captain in time when the lighthouse of Terschelling became visible, even though the captain had asked him to do so. The captain was therefore cleared of guilt. Despite this, it was stated that with more caution the disaster could have been avoided. The rescue of the crew by the fishermen was praised.

Rewards

The Dutch fishermen who saved the ship's crew received a reward of ƒ250 from the Emperor of Germany in November 1894.

Wreck discovery

In 2004 the wreck was found. Large pieces of the wreck, as well as beams of

and pieces of

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

, were salvaged the same year by ship ''Ursus''.

References

{{1894 shipwrecks 1869 ships Schooners Two-masted ships Maritime incidents in 1894 February 1894 Merchant ships of Germany Shipwrecks of the Netherlands 1894 in the Netherlands 1894 disasters 1890s disasters in Europe Terschelling Ships sunk with no fatalities