The last fleet of tall ships

(Herzogin Cecilie)

"Truly the voyage of the deep-sea sailing ship is a triumph over circmustance, an achievement of the apparently impossible, and adventure, and an outlet for romance in a world in which there exists too few of either"
Alan Villiers

The end of the age of the tall sailing ships in world trades became obvious in the end of the 19th century. In the latter part of the 1880´s steel steamers began with increased rapidity replace the big sailings ships in general world trades. However, one shipowner, Gustaf Erikson of the Åland Islands (an autonomous region of Finland), was able to make a profitable business of the last commercial sailing ships still in the 1920´s and 19030´s. Almost all the famous names of the European and  American sailing-fleets came to be registred in the small town of Mariehamn, capital of the Åland Islands, situated between Sweden and the Finnish mainland.

For those interested in exploring the amazing Erikson success story, the definitive book to study is "The Last Tall Ships" by Georg Kåhre (edited by Basil Greenhill). The book is out of print, but you can obtain used copies e.g. through Amazon or Alibris.

"The Last of the Windships", with stunning pictures by the Australian photographer, writer and film maker Alan Villiers, who worked as a seaman on several of the Erikson ships, is a wonderful resource. The pictures, together with the texts provide extraordinary insights into the heroic and vanished era of the last merchant tall ships.

Here is an excerpt from a documentary film made by Alan Villiers:

A third book that I can warmly recommend is "The Grain Races" by Basil Greenhill and John Hackman. This book is unfortunately also out of print, but used copies can be purchased through e.g. Amazon and Alibris.

(Pommern)

In Mariehamn´s Western Harbour you can visit the former Erikson ship Pommern, the only four-masted bark in the world, which still is in its original state. "She is just as she came in from the sea in 1939 at the end of her last passage from Australia - by way of Cap Horn", as Basil Greenhill points out in the book "The Last of the Windships".

(Mozart)

"Perhaps the world´s best museum of regional merchant shipping"
Basil Greenhill on the Åland Maritime Museum

The Åland Maritime Museum in Mariehamn is closed for extension and renovation right now, but will reopen later in 2011. It is a wonderful place to study both the Erikson fleet and the maritime history of Åland in general.