Sail Number: Elbe 5
Vessel Type: Pilot schooner (Lotsenschoner)
LOA: 121′ 5″ / 37.00m – LOD: 83′ 1″ / 25.32m – LWL: – Beam: 19′ 6″ / 5.95m – Draft: 12′ 0″ / 3.66m – Displacement: 138 tons – Built By: H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg, GER – Sail Area: 5295.84 ft² / 492 m² – Designed by: Gustav Junge – Original Name: Elbe – Launched: August 9, 1883 – Hull Material: Oak, copperplated below waterline. – Engine: General Motors 471 Diesel – Home port: Sandtorkai Museum Harbour, Hamburg – Flag: Germany – Location: Marine Traffic
Historical:
Elbe 5 was designed by Gustav Junge, built and launched in 1883 as a pilot schooner by H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg, GER.
Retired from pilot service in 1924 and purchased by author Warwick Tompkins in 1928, in 1929 commissioned as cruising yacht and sail training vessel, renamed the “Wander Bird”.
Made a total of 13 trans-Atlantic crossings during this period, in 1936 Tompkins sailed her around Cape Horn to San Francisco Bay, after a voyage to Tahiti, Tompkins laid the schooner up in Sausalito, California in 1941 where she became a houseboat for his ex-wife.
In 1969 Elbe 5 was purchased by Harold and Anna Sommers, and restoration began by installing her first engine, sailed for the first time in June, 1981.
Was not used much by the Sommers and was offered for sale in 1992, after some unsuccessful trials to sail her back to Germany she departed Sausalito for Seattle in October 1998, the new owners Jim Flury and David Cook intended to offer charter cruises in Mexican waters but instead chartered her to a non-profit group in Seattle to serve as a sail training ship and goodwill ambassador for the city, this program never got started but the schooner remained in Seattle.
On initiative of the “Stiftung Hamburg Maritim” the ship returned to Hamburg on October 7, 2002 where an overhaul of electrical equipment began and the rigging and deck will be checked, all necessary work is done in the context of the project “Jugend in Arbeit Hamburg e.V.”
Since 2004 used as charter ship for day trips and longer voyages.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner: (1883 – 1924) – The Imperial German Government Fleet of Pilot Schooners, Elbe River/North Sea
Owner: (1924 – 1941) – Warwick and Gwen Tompkins, renamed the “Wander Bird” Purchased for $1,500. Sailed the Wander Bird around Cape Horn — going the “wrong way” from east to west. He wrote a book about the passage titled, “50 degrees (degrees) South to 50 degrees (degrees) North.”
Owner: (1941 – 1969) – Used as a houseboat by Gwen Tompkins
Owner: (1969 – 1992) – Harold (tugboat captain for Crowley Marine) and Annaliese Sommers acquired Wander Bird for $10,000 and moved onboard. A 12 year amateur restoration ensued, fitted out her first engine, and sailed for the first time in June, 1981.
Actor: Sterling Walter Hayden
Captain: Billy Carber
Chief engineer: John Bostick
Boatswain: Wayne “Boats” Bishoff
Owner: (1992 2002) – Jim Flury and David Cook (gallery owners) chartered her to a non-profit group in Seattle as a sail training ship
Owner: (2002) – Stiftung Hamburg Maritim, transported 9,000 miles across the Atlantic from Seattle to Hamburg on the weather deck of Rickmers Line’s 23,239grt heavy-lift RTW cargo ship Rickmers Tianjin. Operates as a charter ship for day trips and longer voyages. Recently commissioned a 8 month restoration by Hvide Sande Shipyard, Denmark.
On June 8th Elbe 5 was rammed by a container ship and later sunk in the shallow waters…for more information read article https://classicsailboats.org/pilot-schooner-elbe-5-struck-by-container-ship/
