Herzogin Cecile - a short history 1902-1936

At 4am on 25 April 1936, one of the largest and most spectacular sailing ships ever built ran aground off Salcombe to become the most famous wreck of her time.

Launched as a training ship in 1902 from Rickmers of Bremerhaven, Germany and weighing 3242 tons, Herzogin Cecilie was a beautiful 337 foot four-masted steel barque .

She spent the First World War in a Chilean shipyard, was briefly returned to Bremen in 1920 and then handed over to France as war compensation. She was sold in 1921 for £4000 to the famous Erikson shipping line as the flagship of his fleet, carrying Australian grain to the ports of Britain at record-breaking speed in the years between the Wars.

Affectionately known as ‘The Duchess’, Herzogin Cecilie gained a reputation as the world’s fastest sailer, winning eight Great Australian Grain Races in succession. She also made newspaper headlines around the world when in 1928 a female stowaway, Jeanne Day, was discovered on board two days out from Australia.

Ironically, her fastest return journey was her last. In January 1936 she left port Lincoln in Australia and arrived in Falmouth 86 days later, beating her nearest rival, the Pommern, by seven days. From there she set sail to Ipswich to unload her cargo of grain.

Why she struck the infamous Hamstone off Soar Mill Cove that foggy April night still remains a mystery since she should have been miles out in the Channel and no-one had seen the Eddystone light. Holed in the bows, she drifted inshore and became stranded. By morning, word had spread of her demise and huge crowds gathered on the cliffs above. Skipper Erikson, his wife Pamela and crew were taken off but attempts to refloat her failed.

Two months and thousands of visitors later, she was towed into Salcombe estuary but wasn’t allowed to enter the harbour for fear her cargo of rotting grain would pollute the beaches. Instead, she was anchored over sand in Stare Hole Bay where, weeks later, she broke her keel in a storm and sank. And there she lies today, home to crabs and congers and a much-visited destination of local divers.

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