From the Website www.pommern.aland.fi
[versión español]

SOME IMPORTANT YEARS IN THE HISTORY OF POMMERN

1903: She was commissioned by the German company B. Wencke & Söhne from Hamburg and launched at J. Reid & Co i Glasgow, Scotland. She was christened MNEME, an abreviation for Mnemosyne, the myhtological Greek godess of memory.

1906: She changed ownership twice. Firstly to Reederei -A.-G von 1896 and ten months later to Reederei F. Laeisz, both based in Hamburg. The latter renamed her POMMERN and she remained in their service until the end of the First World War.

1923: The German Merchant Navy was divided amongst the Allies at the end of the World War I and POMMERN was allocated to Greece.The world famous Åland shipowner Gustaf Erikson (GE) heard that she was for sale in Delfiz , Holland and sent an inspector to examine her. He subsequently bought her and from that day on she has been under the Finnish flag.

1939: POMMERN made her last journey from Hull to her homeport Mariehamn. She reached Mariehamn just before the outbreak of World War II and she remained in the harbour until 1941.

1944: She was towed to Stockholm where she was used as a grainary.

1945: After the armistice between Finland and Russia she was moved to Turku where her cargo of grain was unloaded and then towed back to Mariehamn. 

1947: Gustaf Erikson died and POMMERN was put up for sale. No buyers could be found as by this time POMMERN was in need of expensive repairs and in addition the era of the sailingships had passed. She remained moored in Mariehamn.

1952/ 1953: Gustaf Erikson's son Edgar and his sister Eva Hohentahl decide to donate POMMERN to the Town of Mariehamn.

1984: It was decided that members of the Cape Horners Association would make a new sail in order to document the different skills involved in sailmaking. POMMERNS SAILMAKERS were born!

1999: One sail led to another and a complete set of 28 sails was presented to the Town of Mariehamn from proud sailmakers.

2003: POMMERN celebrates her Centenary Year.

MORE ABOUT THE SHIP
As new, POMMERN was a very modern ship with brass and fallwinches and a boiler for steam power to assist in loading and unloading. Steampower was also used to weigh anchor but never for propulsion.

POMMERN was a cargo ship and during her German years she sailed between Europe and South America. From Europe she sailed with general cargo and returned with saltpeter (guano).

An average voyage from Chile took 85 days, which meant an average speed of 5,5, knots.

As did most of the Gustaf Erikson fleet, POMMERN sailed in what was known as "the grain trade". They carried grain from harbours in the Spencer Gulf area in Australia to harbours in England or Ireland. The voyage to Australia was often in ballast but occasionally a cargo of timber was taken from Finland to South Africa.