Cybercaptain: Fahrwohl

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Fahrwohl

credit: Finnish maritime museum archives/ colorization by Frank Hellsten

Fahrwohl, still under Russian flag

I had earlier bought a 2nd hand book about Southampton ports and came across the picture of the Finnish tall ship Fahrwohl.

Fahrwohl in inner harbor 1905

credit by: Maritime Southampton, Alastair Arnott, photo Coezens

As I mentioned this to my friend Captain Hannu Vartiainen he straight away sent me from his archives a cavalcade of pictures about her, showing the crew and the vessel. See more below.

Note flying Finnish flag

Fahrwohl history

Steel barque, built in 1892 by Russell & Co., Port Glasgow for Carl. H. H. Winters, Elsfleth, Germany. 1376 tons net and 1448 tons gross. Dimensions: 73.03m x 11m x 6,71m. She was thus rather a full-built cargo-carrier. In 1900 she was purchased by Abo Rederi Ab (The Turku Shipping Company Ltd.) which sold her in 1915 to Rederi Ab Aura (The Aura Shipping Company Ltd.). Her masters under Finnish ownership were: K. Lindberg, Jeremias Granit, Karl Axel Söderholm, K. J. Karlsson, J. F Gadd, K. W. Dahlén, Jalo Putta, and August Ahnger.

In 1908, on her way from Middlesbrough to Fremantle with a cargo of thomasphosphate, coal, and pig iron Fahrwohl was badly damaged, the tween deck was broken, and it collapsed by nearlv one metre in places. The vessel had to seek refuge in Lissabon where she was unloaded and repaired.

When sailing into the La Plata in 1920 she collided with the English frigate Hilston which was lying at anchor on the river, the Hilston sank, and seven men of her crew drowned. The anchor lanterns of The Hilston had gone out, and the collision could not be avoided.

In 18th October 1922 the Fahrwohl ran aground on the Leman & Owers banks in the North Sea, and on this occasion lost her topgallant spars and sustained other damages to her rig. She succeeded to get herself free and reaching London by sail. This was her last voyage with timber from Vyborg to London.

When being turned around by tugs on the river Thames on Greenwich reach, the Fahrwohl was run into by the s/s Ostara and was badly damaged at the mizzen shrouds, the ship's side was torn open, rigging braces were broken, and the stern was damaged. However, the vessel remained afloat.

This happened on January 23rd 1923, and this incident followed by a hearing about Ostara that struck the Fahrwohl while the latter was undergoing a restricted turning maneuver. Legal proceedings centered on the duty of the Ostara to keep a proper lookout and avoid a vessel with limited maneuverability. Then in July the same year she was sold to Rendsburg, Germany for scrap and she was deleted from the register on 3rd Aug 2023.

(credit: The Finnish Deep Water Sailers by Sten Lille/ Lars Gronstrand)

In Silloth

The Clydeships website also lists Fahrwohl on their database with the below 2 pictures on file.

The wrecksite gives the Hilston as American flagged vessel when Fahrwohl collided with her: On February 20th, 1920, the American fully rigged ship Hilston, built in 1885 by Russell & Co. Ltd. and owned at the time of her loss by Murphy, John George, on voyage from Buenos Aires to New York with corn in sacks, sank after a collision with the Finnish barque Fahrwohl, off Chico Bank, La Plata. Nevertheless she was British built in Scotland so the Clydeships website gives ownership as follows:

1915 Joseph G. P. Murphy, Levis, Quebec. - James J Feoré, Mobile, Alabama .

1920 Register closed (as she sank).

s/v Hilston

(credit: State Library South Australia)

Interestingly I discovered that the two Captains named by Sten Lille having served on Fahrwohl, Jeremias Granit & Karl Söderholm, appear to be distant ancestors of mine from my mothers side. She's hailing from Nagu in the archipelago and I suppose it was natural that people looked for employ at the shipowners in the nearby larger city of Turku where the Owners of Fahrwohl were located. People from there were also mostly skilled sailors as it as the only means of getting themselves and their products to the mainland and there were no bridges or paved highways connecting it.

Alongside

Also Captain Jalo Putta sailed many years on Fahrwohl and I understand that the photos Capt Hannu Vartiainen sent me are from his time onboard, it looks like happy times with the whole family sailing onboard seeing all the pictures of the children on deck playing with pigs (later to be eaten), bathing in tubs, holding rudder etc. but she also had her bad times when she lost rigging in storms, collided and sank another vessel and ran aground on sandbanks. Not sure if she was particularly lucky in getting away from these incidents still afloat or perhaps it was just sturdy Scottish shipbuilding that kept Fahrwohl going.

Collision damage

Capt Putta later became a teacher in the maritime academy of Rauma, he retired as head teacher and was awarded the honorary title of "merenkulkuneuvos" in his later years. These titles are not translated but are given by the president of Finland to highly accomplished sea captains, shipowners, or prominent executives who have made significant, long-lasting contributions to the Finnish maritime industry, shipping, and navigation. In English 'merenkulkuneuvos' would mean 'seafaring consultant/ advisor'.

He also wrote a book about his sailing travel memoirs on Fahrwohl, the title freely translated from Finnish would read "On the Seas of the World".

Here is a map of her voyages

Collision damage

Also Jukka Mikkola documents Fahrwohl on his webpages and adds more detail of the Fahrwohl escapades and her voyages:

The ship was purchased to Finland from the same original owning company in Germany for 12.125 pounds and was in Rotterdam at the time of purchase.

The first deep sea voyage was made with a cargo of cement from Hamburg to San Diego, California, from 18th March to 30th August 1901. On the way, the ship was caught in a hurricane on 6th May 1901, when the steering wheel and compass were broken. At the same time, the ship lost several sails and the sea broke the fo'c'sle crew quarter doors/ hatch, causing the fo'c'sle to be flooded with water. One man was washed overboard in the South Atlantic.

While sailing from Gävle with a cargo of timber to Port Elisabeth, South Africa, a sailor was washed overboard and drowned in a storm in the Atlantic. The voyage took place from 23rd Nov 1903 to 18th Mar 1904.

While sailing from Falmouth to Stockholm with a cargo of wheat, the ship came dangerously close to Wolf Rock on 29th June 1906. The steamship Snorri, which came to the rescue, saved the ship and towed it to calmer waters. The destination port was reached on 4th July 1906, where 19.735 sacks of wheat were discharged.

I am assuming the steamship Snorri was this Icelandic steam trawler

(credit: safnari.is)

In 1908, while enroute from Middlesbrough to Fremantle, Australia, the ship encountered a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay, causing mast spars to break and the ship to leak. After drifting for a week, the ship was taken under tow and towed to Lisbon for repairs after she had discharged her cargo. The voyage took place from 16 October to 15 November 1908.