Experiences during a voyage of the windjammer POMMERN
Date1937
Object number00016986
NameDiary
MediumCloth, Ink on paper
DimensionsOverall: 250 mm, 0.6 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from G Savage
DescriptionManuscript diary describing experiences during a voyage on the Finnish four masted barque POMMERN from Port Lincoln South Australia to London with a cargo of wheat.
The narrator joins the ship at Port Lincoln after taking the coastal steamer MOONTA from Port Adelaide. The narrator describes the ship, owned by Gustaf Erikson, and lists the crew including Captain Karl Broman, First Mate Gillis Scholund and Second Mate Uno Weterbey. The first date mentioned in the diary is Sunday 28 February (1937) at Port Lincoln, the last 13 May coming into Cliff Quay on the Thames. The diary gives an account of the voyage. The front page is inscribed 'log rewritten' indicating that it was re-written after 1937. The possible author is Brian Guinness. The diary is written in a exercise or work book with a grey cloth spine.HistoryThe POMMERN four masted barque built in 1903 in Glasgow at the J. Reid & Co shipyard. Acquired by Gustaf Erikson of Mariehamn, in the Åland archipelago Finland, in 1923. It was used to carry wheat from South Australia to ports in England or Ireland until the start of WWII. It won the Great Grain Races twice in 1930 and 1937. After WWII it was donated to the town of Mariehamn and is now part of the Åland Maritime Museum.
SignificancePOMMERN, built in 1903, has a long sailing record around the world, surviving both world wars unscathed and is still on display at the Åland Maritime Museum.William Dodgson Cockton
1877 - 1890
Allan Witt Edwards
1917