''Placilla'' was a four-masted

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

which was built for F. Laeisz,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in 1892. She was sold in 1901 and renamed ''Optima'' in 1903. In 1905 she was wrecked on the Haisborough Sands.

Description

''Placilla'' was built by Joh. C. Tecklenborg in

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of th ...

, Germany. She was long overall, with a beam of and a depth of . She had four masts and was rigged as a barque, with royal sails over double

top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a f ...

and

topgallant sail On a square rigged sailing vessel, a topgallant sail (topgallant alone pronounced "t'gallant", topgallant sail pronounced "t'garns'l",C.S. Forester, ''Beat to Quarters'', Chapter VI. is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the topsai ...

s. Her

air draught Air draft (or air draught) is the distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel. This is similar to the " deep draft" of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the hull below th ...

was . Her sail area was .'' Placilla'' was a sister ship to ''Pisagua'', which was launched seven months later than she was.

History

''Placilla'' entered service with F Laeisz,

in 1892. She was used on the route between

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. In 1892, ''Placilla'' made the voyage from Lizard Point to Valparaiso, Chile in 58 days. This was a record time. It was equalled by

Potosi Potosí or Potosi may refer to: Places United States * Potosi, Missouri, in Washington County * Potosi, Nevada, a ghost town in Clark County, Nevada * Potosi, Texas, in Taylor County * Potosi (town), Wisconsin, in Grant County ** Potosi, Wis ...

(1900), ''Pitlochry'' (1902), ''Preußen'' (1903), ''Eldora'' (1904) and ''Preußen'' (1905). She recorded a fastest voyage from

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191 ...

, Chile to the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

of 71 days and a voyage from Pisagua, Chile to The Lizard in 78 days. In 1901 she was sold to Rhederei AG von 1896, Hamburg. She was renamed ''Optima'' in 1903. On 6 January 1905, she departed Hamburg bound for Santa Rosalía,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

with a cargo of

coke Coke usually refers to: * Coca-Cola, a brand of soft drink **The Coca-Cola Company * Slang term for cocaine, a psychoactive substance and illicit drug Substances Soft drinks * Cola, any soft drink similar to Coca-Cola * Generic name for a soft d ...

. On 18 January 1905, she ran aground on the misty Haisborough Sands after a storm in the North Sea, off the coast of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

and was wrecked. All of the crew survived.

Captains

The captains of ''Pisagua'' were:- * Robert Hilgendorf (1892–94) * Otto Schmidt (1894-1901) * Fr. Wilhelm Thöm (1901–1903) * H. Butz (1903–1905)

Code Letters

''Placilla'' was assigned the

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

RJLM.

References

External links

Photo of ''Placilla''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Placilla 1892 ships Ships built in Hamburg Barques Merchant ships of the German Empire Tall ships of the German Empire Maritime incidents in 1905 Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks in the North Sea