Highlights from our South Street Seaport Trip

Class 408 visited the Peking Ship in South Street Seaport in December. We were given a private tour of what life and work was like on board this "tall ship."

The Peking with all her sails unfurled

The Peking Ship sailed in the early 1900's - and was used as a cargo ship in the Nitrate trade (nitrate is a chemical that was used for fertilizer).

The four-masted Peking represents one of the last of the trading ships that are powered only by wind. The Peking was launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911 and she was used to carry manufactured goods to South America and to return via Cape Horn with nitrate.

In 1932 (after 12 years of sailing), the Peking was retired and moored in England. There she was converted into a a boys' school under the name Arethusa. 4o years later in 1975, the Peking moved to New York City to be part of the South Street Seaport Museum.

The Peking has a steel hull as long as a football field, and masts as tall as an 18-story building, Peking is one of the largest sailing vessels ever built and the largest preserved by a museum.

Although the Peking is a modern ship as compared to what the early Explorers sailed to the Americas, we used the first-hand knowledge we gained on the Peking Ship to help up imagine what life must have been like on board sailing ships for the Explorers 400 years ago.


Captain Jen addressing Class 408's crew


The Peking crew


Class 408's crew


The Peking crew raising the sail


Class 408's crew rasising the sail


Peking Navigataor checking his Astrolabe


Class 408 entertaing NYC tourists


One of Peking's 4 masts and Yard Arms
(Imagine sitting way up on the Crow's nest!)


Aye Aye Captain!

Peking Ship Links

South Street Seaport Museum Website
http://www.southstseaport.org/street/peking.shtm

Peking Ship on WikiPedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_(ship)