Interesting to me that this was filmed by Col. Wirgman! I was fortunate to have been able to shoot competitively while in the Marine Corp many years ago. There is a team event, which we won one year-the trophy for which is the Wirgman trophy! When I saw the name in the opening credits, I did a double take! Turns out, it is in fact the same Col. Wirgman from that trophy all those years ago! Here is a little information on the trophy that bears his name, if anyone is interested: "The poor standing of small post and stations competing for the Elliott Trophy, prompted Lieutenant Colonel Harold F. Wirgman to present to the Marine Corps the trophy that bears his name. Wirgman long associated with Marine Corps Marksmanship, mainly in organizing teams and promoting shooting. During the period following World War I, Wirgman handled the team arrangements at Wakefield and Camp Perry. The Trophy was placed in competition in 1926 for east coast units with complements under 300. Today the strength of post must be less than 60. The Match consists of a team from post competing in Eastern and Southeastern Division Rifle Match. Team consist of 4 shooting members, with at least one officer as a shooting member, and at least 1 enlisted member who has not competed in any Elliott, San Diego, Wirgman, or Inter-Division or Marine Corps National Rifle Team. The Match consists of firing the rifle course twice, and shall be fired in 2 days. The Trophy is retained by the Commanding Officer of winning post for 1 year, and a gold badge awarded to each firing member of winning team." The above quote was taken from wwmcmillan dot info
Thank you.!!!!! No words to express my feelings on this subject. As an ocean lover, sailor and shipping, logistics entrepreneur, these are jewels for my remembrances.
Mr. Alan Villiers' film, and especially his storytelling, is absolutely superb. Edit: no wonder it is so: having just searched his name, Villiers authored some 44 books. Remarkable.
Except for the nostalgia of sailing ships (and it is impressive) one cannot compare the ease of crossing oceans using modern shipping. Still a challenge today with modern radar, GPS and modern communication. How they managed to accomplish what they did is beyond my comprehension. I read the entire Patrick O'Brian series of 20 books and I am as ignorant to understand how they managed in the old days as I was with book number one.
@@frankmiller95 Many of them didn't make it. I have in my library a book "Shipwrecks of the Yorkshire Coast" with details of 1500 wrecks off the coast of this one English county. Just compare Villiers' commentary here with the legal retribution suffered by Mark Litchfield skipper of the Maria Assumpta when he apparently got it wrong in a modern shipwreck. Also compare this with the usual zero accountability when large corporations cause far larger loss of live as opposed to when one individual is a target for the courts. A modern sailing skipper has major threats on land nowadays in addition to the perils of the weather.
Greate! I´m so happy I´ve found that video - thaks a lot for loadig it up. We have to keep this for later generations - those memorys have to stay for ever.
Wonderful video... Very nastalgic.. My father sailed on the L'Avenir out of Antwerp many, many years ago. She was just like Pamir and the rest of the 4 masted Barques shown.. Thank you ......
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?
Never a fast sailer, ...14-16 knots lol through the cape! Those absolute madmen. ... just shows you what the standard of those windjammers was because that is a fast sailer!
For a boat that size, 14-16 knots isn't that fast. The max theoretical speed of a displacement hull is about 1.5 times the square root of the waterline length regardless of how much sail is piled on or how high the wind speed. Clippers approached that. Some windjammers could approach it but these early 20th century ships were built or refitted to maximize cargo capacity, not speed. Sadly, the railroads and steam engines relegated the last of the truly fast tall ships, even the clippers, to that ignoble end and even they never saw that kind of speed again.
This is why I get upset when I hear people say that steam took over because they were faster than sailing ships. This is rubbish as they were not. Given a fair wind most sailing ships could leave the steamers well astern. The truth is that the steam ships could set their course independently of the wind and take the short cuts.
@@Kimdino1 With modern sail plans capable of pointing higher, auxiliary power and modern materials, I wonder why sail couldn't make a comeback. Probably just cheaper to build a piece of semi-disposable, oil burning crap. By the time oil gets too expensive, they'll start using nuclear or hydrogen fuel cells. Now, if ultra high efficiency, flexible solar panels could be used as sail material......
@@petem.3719 I'm already with you on most of that, mate. I know from experience that shipowners are amongst the biggest pennypinchers going when it comes to fuel bills. Germany, USA & Japan have all tried nuclear power and failed for various reasons, the German 'Otto Hahn' was the most successful of these. But the USSR did make a success, maybe because their nuclear ships operate in an isolated environment & the programme was initially maintained with massive government subsidy. They have a nuclear powered LASH carrier that has been operating for many decades now as well as several icebreakers. Hydrogen power was tried with airliners but failed because of lack of infrastructure. I think the same might apply to ships, though a company operating a simple liner route might find it manageable. But on to the point - Using sail power is under development but the most promising developments look nothing like the flappy-bits-on-sticks that we are used to. Maersk & Airbus have been trialling a kite sail arrangement where the sail operates at high altitude where the wind is much stronger. Also, the 'Maltese Falcon' is interesting but this is a private yacht.
If you want to see the old 16 fps footage in the right pace and not see the sailors dance like Charley Chaplin on deck, slow the speed to 66%. Do it, it's amazing!
the amazing thing is if we were going to go down this road again , it would take a fraction of the rigging and manpower with no doubt very little pollution and cost. but until the world population doesnt need their weekend fun toys to be delivered overnight, this type of slow trade would be limited to bulk commodities. shippers would have to sacrifice time for money. with the proper logistical planning.. who knows?
@@debuysio2807 originally they would have been wooden . It was towards the end of the days of sail that steel hulls were used but , you get my point , Mr Pedantic !
Really? Writing as a retired sailboat captain and unlimited route and tonnage, licensed deck officer, myself, don't get too puffed up about your license. While an undeniable achievement, it's hardly an unlimited master's license in both sail and steam, with which you've actually commanded a ship at sea. Having known and been close friends with several unlimited masters licensed captains, all with command experience, none of them felt the need to announce it when ashore. Ditto for PhD's. As for being a "patriot," real patriots don't feel the need to announce it to the rest of us.
Take heart my good man, the age of sale is alive and well. Check out the Black Pearl! I will bet you $20 at this narrator is going to be stoked when he finds out that they can generate electricity by backpedaling the propeller
Retired professional mariner in sail and steam, here. The error is yours. The Roaring Forties are from 40 degrees south down to 50 south. That's close enough to the Southern Ocean that you don't want to be there unless you're in a RTW race, or trying to set a new RTW record under sail. They're the most unforgiving waters on the planet.
@@frankmiller95 I cross the Drakes passage to many times, which is a small part of the Southern Ocean, Now go back and watch again to what he said, 50 degrees will put it well above the Southern Ocean and into the southern Pacific Oceans
@@southerneruk The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. Similar but even stronger conditions that occur at more southerly latitudes are called the Furious Fifties and the Shrieking or Screaming Sixties.
@@UUBrahman That where the error is calling the fifties, forties. Unless they are on about the forties trade wind that starts at the cape and ends southwest of the Galápagos Islands, Which are the original names for trade winds, and not the generalisation all round the world at that latitudes
These cocky young adventurers considered themselves the elite of the world, moving the most important materials around it that the rest of the human race needed to prosper, indeed survive. Among the disdainful nicknames they had for soft, stay-at-home landsmen were Scissorwalkers, Pollywogs.. Some, less printable.
Yes, but for Viking 16 knots where the top speed, and not necessarily in a direct line A modern Container Ship, like the Triple E-Class cruise at 16 knots, direct line, and with A LOT MORE cargo! The trip that took three months aboard Viking, can be done in less than 3 weeks today!
ls the narrator, here Captain Sven Joffs? lf not, it sure sounds like his voice. He sailed as young seaman aboard "Pamir," which won the last grain race, in 1939, detailed in the book of the same name by Eric Newby. Newby sailed aboard "Moshulu." l knew Sven when we were both sailboat captains in the same boatyard. l was young and he was not. lt was obvious to all of us that he knew and had seen more ocean than all the rest of us, combined.
Yes to your first question, no to the second. The steel, grain (sailing) ships of the 1930s were still commercially profitable or they wouldn't have existed. The last grain races were from Australia to the UK, in 1939. They ended permanently with the outbreak of WWll.
The great grain race. From South Australia across the roaring 40s to Cape Horn. The last stand of sail that ended in 1939. Wonderful movie.
The late writer Eric Newby, from Hammersmith UK, wrote “The Last Grain Race” about his time as a crew member of the Moshalou.
It's so good to see these old ships and their crews in action, thank you.
Amazing work and life you’ve lived. Great video and many more great years to you.
Interesting to me that this was filmed by Col. Wirgman! I was fortunate to have been able to shoot competitively while in the Marine Corp many years ago. There is a team event, which we won one year-the trophy for which is the Wirgman trophy! When I saw the name in the opening credits, I did a double take! Turns out, it is in fact the same Col. Wirgman from that trophy all those years ago!
Here is a little information on the trophy that bears his name, if anyone is interested:
"The poor standing of small post and stations competing for the Elliott Trophy, prompted Lieutenant Colonel Harold F. Wirgman to present to the Marine Corps the trophy that bears his name. Wirgman long associated with Marine Corps Marksmanship, mainly in organizing teams and promoting shooting. During the period following World War I, Wirgman handled the team arrangements at Wakefield and Camp Perry.
The Trophy was placed in competition in 1926 for east coast units with complements under 300. Today the strength of post must be less than 60.
The Match consists of a team from post competing in Eastern and Southeastern Division Rifle Match. Team consist of 4 shooting members, with at least one officer as a shooting member, and at least 1 enlisted member who has not competed in any Elliott, San Diego, Wirgman, or Inter-Division or Marine Corps National Rifle Team.
The Match consists of firing the rifle course twice, and shall be fired in 2 days. The Trophy is retained by the Commanding Officer of winning post for 1 year, and a gold badge awarded to each firing member of winning team."
The above quote was taken from wwmcmillan dot info
Thank you.!!!!! No words to express my feelings on this subject. As an ocean lover, sailor and shipping, logistics entrepreneur, these are jewels for my remembrances.
Maan, how I love these sailing ships! So brave and strong as their crew!
excellent footage and expert narration! Subscribed!
People today are so soft. You had to be TOUGH back then!
Mr. Alan Villiers' film, and especially his storytelling, is absolutely superb.
Edit: no wonder it is so: having just searched his name, Villiers authored some 44 books. Remarkable.
Thank you, great sailing ship, nice film.
Except for the nostalgia of sailing ships (and it is impressive) one cannot compare the ease of crossing oceans using modern shipping. Still a challenge today with modern radar, GPS and modern communication. How they managed to accomplish what they did is beyond my comprehension. I read the entire Patrick O'Brian series of 20 books and I am as ignorant to understand how they managed in the old days as I was with book number one.
One needs quite a few thousands of miles at sea under sail and many hundreds of hours of study to even begin to understand how it was done.
@@frankmiller95 Many of them didn't make it. I have in my library a book "Shipwrecks of the Yorkshire Coast" with details of 1500 wrecks off the coast of this one English county. Just compare Villiers' commentary here with the legal retribution suffered by Mark Litchfield skipper of the Maria Assumpta when he apparently got it wrong in a modern shipwreck. Also compare this with the usual zero accountability when large corporations cause far larger loss of live as opposed to when one individual is a target for the courts. A modern sailing skipper has major threats on land nowadays in addition to the perils of the weather.
Brilliant I wish the people alive today would understand the skills and knowledge these guys had and get off their phones
good luck !!! 2 + 2 = what ???
Greate! I´m so happy I´ve found that video - thaks a lot for loadig it up. We have to keep this for later generations - those memorys have to stay for ever.
Wonderful video... Very nastalgic.. My father sailed on the L'Avenir out of Antwerp many, many years ago. She was just like Pamir and the rest of the 4 masted Barques shown.. Thank you ......
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?
Awesome footage, ships, people..
Never a fast sailer, ...14-16 knots lol through the cape! Those absolute madmen. ... just shows you what the standard of those windjammers was because that is a fast sailer!
For a boat that size, 14-16 knots isn't that fast. The max theoretical speed of a displacement hull is about 1.5 times the square root of the waterline length regardless of how much sail is piled on or how high the wind speed. Clippers approached that. Some windjammers could approach it but these early 20th century ships were built or refitted to maximize cargo capacity, not speed. Sadly, the railroads and steam engines relegated the last of the truly fast tall ships, even the clippers, to that ignoble end and even they never saw that kind of speed again.
@@petem.3719 I am well aware it wasn't fast for the type mate, that's why I referred to the standard of the breed!
This is why I get upset when I hear people say that steam took over because they were faster than sailing ships. This is rubbish as they were not. Given a fair wind most sailing ships could leave the steamers well astern. The truth is that the steam ships could set their course independently of the wind and take the short cuts.
@@Kimdino1 With modern sail plans capable of pointing higher, auxiliary power and modern materials, I wonder why sail couldn't make a comeback. Probably just cheaper to build a piece of semi-disposable, oil burning crap. By the time oil gets too expensive, they'll start using nuclear or hydrogen fuel cells. Now, if ultra high efficiency, flexible solar panels could be used as sail material......
@@petem.3719 I'm already with you on most of that, mate. I know from experience that shipowners are amongst the biggest pennypinchers going when it comes to fuel bills.
Germany, USA & Japan have all tried nuclear power and failed for various reasons, the German 'Otto Hahn' was the most successful of these. But the USSR did make a success, maybe because their nuclear ships operate in an isolated environment & the programme was initially maintained with massive government subsidy. They have a nuclear powered LASH carrier that has been operating for many decades now as well as several icebreakers.
Hydrogen power was tried with airliners but failed because of lack of infrastructure. I think the same might apply to ships, though a company operating a simple liner route might find it manageable.
But on to the point - Using sail power is under development but the most promising developments look nothing like the flappy-bits-on-sticks that we are used to. Maersk & Airbus have been trialling a kite sail arrangement where the sail operates at high altitude where the wind is much stronger. Also, the 'Maltese Falcon' is interesting but this is a private yacht.
If you want to see the old 16 fps footage in the right pace and not see the sailors dance like Charley Chaplin on deck, slow the speed to 66%. Do it, it's amazing!
I love this film. Thank you so much for posting.
Much appreciated thank you David.
Lovely history, thank u ☺️
I went to sea at 16, had crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice on a Full Rigged ship before I turned 18
Wow I think you have some great stories to tell.
That was excellent really enjoyed it.
This is A MASTER VIDEO ! MUCH RESPECT 🤠🖖
Beautiful 👍
Brilliant thanks.🇬🇧
Thank God the title is not "Tall Ships" of the 1930s. A hackneyed term that is considered correct among landsmen.
I liked this video.
Lovely
the amazing thing is if we were going to go down this road again , it would take a fraction of the rigging and manpower with no doubt very little pollution and cost. but until the world population doesnt need their weekend fun toys to be delivered overnight, this type of slow trade would be limited to bulk commodities. shippers would have to sacrifice time for money. with the proper logistical planning.. who knows?
Yes the wind is free but it did cost many lives and many more before the art of sail was perfected
Greatness.
Bug. After 45 minutes everything stops. Need to redo.
Eudaimonia - "Amor Fati" (a good background sound for this)
Ships built of wood sailed by men of steel !
This are not wooden ships. Iron and steel is de building material.
@@debuysio2807 originally they would have been wooden . It was towards the end of the days of sail that steel hulls were used but , you get my point , Mr Pedantic !
@@ianbower827 lf you're going to use a tired cliche', don't get your knickers in a twist when someone points out its inaccuracy.
Great film. Too bad it freezes up at 44:35.
Square Riggers could not point well into the wind like modern sailboats. From USCG 100 Ton Master.
That is why they tried to follow with the wind around the world like also rather with the current than against it.
and the funny thing is that modern racing sailboats are also much faster off the wind than into it, not unlike the days of these big square riggers.
Really? Writing as a retired sailboat captain and unlimited route and tonnage, licensed deck officer, myself, don't get too puffed up about your license. While an undeniable achievement, it's hardly an unlimited master's license in both sail and steam, with which you've actually commanded a ship at sea. Having known and been close friends with several unlimited masters licensed captains, all with command experience, none of them felt the need to announce it when ashore. Ditto for PhD's.
As for being a "patriot," real patriots don't feel the need to announce it to the rest of us.
When a Boatswain Mate was god
Take heart my good man, the age of sale is alive and well. Check out the Black Pearl! I will bet you $20 at this narrator is going to be stoked when he finds out that they can generate electricity by backpedaling the propeller
The tape just stopped, at 44:36 Why, is this?? What happened to it????
A glimpse of nautical history and a way of life.
OK you seamen out there, did you note the error in the narrator, error made in the Roaring fourty's
Retired professional mariner in sail and steam, here. The error is yours. The Roaring Forties are from 40 degrees south down to 50 south. That's close enough to the Southern Ocean that you don't want to be there unless you're in a RTW race, or trying to set a new RTW record under sail. They're the most unforgiving waters on the planet.
@@frankmiller95 I cross the Drakes passage to many times, which is a small part of the Southern Ocean, Now go back and watch again to what he said, 50 degrees will put it well above the Southern Ocean and into the southern Pacific Oceans
@@southerneruk The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. Similar but even stronger conditions that occur at more southerly latitudes are called the Furious Fifties and the Shrieking or Screaming Sixties.
@@UUBrahman That where the error is calling the fifties, forties. Unless they are on about the forties trade wind that starts at the cape and ends southwest of the Galápagos Islands, Which are the original names for trade winds, and not the generalisation all round the world at that latitudes
When men were men.
aaaahhhh .... the good old days on a pirate ship
Not at all. You have your eras confused.
These cocky young adventurers considered themselves the elite of the world, moving the most important materials around it that the rest of the human race needed to prosper, indeed survive. Among the disdainful nicknames they had for soft, stay-at-home landsmen were Scissorwalkers, Pollywogs.. Some, less printable.
14-16 knots... most modern merchant ships cruise at this speed. Have we really moved on?
Yes, but for Viking 16 knots where the top speed, and not necessarily in a direct line
A modern Container Ship, like the Triple E-Class cruise at 16 knots, direct line, and with A LOT MORE cargo!
The trip that took three months aboard Viking, can be done in less than 3 weeks today!
ls the narrator, here Captain Sven Joffs? lf not, it sure sounds like his voice. He sailed as young seaman aboard "Pamir," which won the last grain race, in 1939, detailed in the book of the same name by Eric Newby. Newby sailed aboard "Moshulu." l knew Sven when we were both sailboat captains in the same boatyard. l was young and he was not. lt was obvious to all of us that he knew and had seen more ocean than all the rest of us, combined.
I highly recommend the book, it is a great read.
The first and third clips are Captain Karl Kåhre, according to the accolade.
A complete novice talking here... but weren't there engines & locomotion for ships by 1930? I mean they weren't doing it to be cool were they????
Yes to your first question, no to the second. The steel, grain (sailing) ships of the 1930s were still commercially profitable or they wouldn't have existed. The last grain races were from Australia to the UK, in 1939. They ended permanently with the outbreak of WWll.
Nice. Lost art.
Get rid of that narrator