The RICKMER RICKMERS was built in 1896 as a full-rigged steel ship on transverse frames at the company's own shipyard in Bremerhaven and was named after the grandson of the company's founder. The hull is 97 m long, 12.20 m wide, the draft was 6 m. The ship was measured at the time with 1,980 GRT and 3,067 TDW, the mean depth was 7.70 m. As a full-rigged ship, the sailor had a sail area of 3,500 m2. Commissioning took place in August 1896. Under the command of Captain Hermann-Hinrich Ahlers, the sailor left with a crew consisting of the captain, two helmsmen, a cook, carpenter, sailmaker and donkeyman, eleven able and three ordinary seamen and four cabin boys insisted, Bremerhaven and sailed to Hong Kong. From there, the RICKMER RICKMERS returned to the Weser laden with rice and bamboo.
The sailor has made many happy voyages for the shipping company, but there have also been some very unfortunate voyages. Such was the journey that began in August 1903 and ended with a typhoon riding in 1904 and the call at Cape Town in South Africa as a port of refuge. There the wrecked third mast was replaced and the full ship re-rigged to the barque. As such, she returned to Bremerhaven in December 1904 – two months too late.
The trips were varied; Long journeys followed quickly and so in 1912 the ship, which was in the port of Delfzyl, was sold by the shipping company without a murmur to the Hamburg shipping company Carl Christian Krabbenhöft and sailed under the new name MAX to Chile on the saltpetre journey. In 1916 on the way home the Azores were approached. The ship was illegally confiscated in neutral Portugal, made available to the English and from then on transported war material as FLORES. After the end of the war, the sailor was handed over to the Portuguese by the English and life as a cargo tall ship was over. The Portuguese Navy began the conversion and put the ship back into service as a training ship for the Navy's junior staff. Where valuable cargo used to be stowed,
Around 1930, two 350 hp KRUPP diesel engines were installed as auxiliary drives with the associated auxiliary machinery. This increased the comfort of the training ship enormously.
The last major performance of the ship, which had received the name SAGRES under the Portuguese, was in 1958 when it won the sail training ships regatta ahead of the Norwegian CHRISTIAN RADICH. Since the Portuguese took possession of the former ALBERT SCHLAGETER as SAGRES II in 1962, the SAGRES was decommissioned, stripped down and given to the naval shipyard as a hulk under the name SANTO ANDRE. There the ship rotted away quietly as a depot ship until 1983. The association “Windjammer für Hamburg” e. V. was founded in 1974 by Wilhelm "Fiete" Schmidt and some Hamburg citizens with the aim of bringing a deep-water sailing ship to Hamburg as a seafaring monument and museum. Thanks to a few generous donors, the Bugsier company was able to tow the yacht to Hamburg and hand it over to the club on May 7, 1983, on the occasion of the port's birthday. May 7, 1983 was the day that the not-so-pretty-looking Hulk SANTO ANDRE was introduced to the Port Birthday guests as RICKMER RICKMERS. The population was able to inspect the ship at the Landungsbrücken for a few days. The ship was then brought to the Europakai HDW and the actual work began. The shipyard and some port service companies have started removing large parts from the upper deck to give the technicians the opportunity to assess any damage and draw up plans. After much discussion, voluntary help was called for – and it came. A team of around 50 helpers disposed of the ship over the weekends, summer and winter, so that an overview of the overall condition was possible. At the beginning of 1984, ABM funds were made available to the association. Among other things, unemployed shipbuilders and welders could be hired. From then on, the repairs progressed rapidly.
The ship was docked, ultrasonic measurements were taken, the steel plates were sandblasted and painted and the interior work was carried out. The deck was laid with timber, the rigging completed, the engine room prepared and ballast taken on board. A steam engine and one of the Krupp diesel engines can be seen in the engine room. Together, the three types of drive of the last 100 years - wind, steam, diesel - are illustrated to the visitor. The RICKMER RICKMERS has been at the Fiete-Schmidt-Anleger since September 1987 and can be viewed daily. In the fall of 1987, the ship was incorporated into a newly established foundation. The foundation finances itself and through donations, so it does not receive any grants from the foundation donor (Verein Windjammer für Hamburg), from the city or from the state.
