Waterside plaque commemorating the relationship between Wellington City and Barque Pamir 1941-1948 :

"Dedicated to the 4 masted barque PAMIR and the men who sailed in her.

The steel 4 masted barque PAMIR was German built in 1905 for F. Laisz's "Flying P Line" of Hamburg. A powerful Cape Horn vessel she carried nitrate cargoes from Chile to European ports. In the 1930's she flew the flag of Gustaf Erikson of Mariehamn in the Finnish Aland Islands and was mainly employed carrying grain from South Australian ports to Europe, again via Cape Horn.

On 29 July 1941 PAMIR sailed into Wellington Harbour with a cargo of fertilizer from the Seychelles Islands and five days later was seized as a prize of war by the New Zealand Government.

Managed by the Union Steam Ship Company and commanded and manned by New Zealanders PAMIR made five voyages to San Francisco, three to Vancouver, one to Sydney and one to London and Antwerp before being returned to her owners on 12 November 1948. Flying the Finnish flag once more but crewed by New Zealanders PAMIR left Wellington for the last time on 1 February 1949.

As a German cargo-carrying auxilliary training ship PAMIR foundered in hurricane "Carrie" in the North Atlantic Ocean on 21 September 1957 with the loss of eighty of her crew of eighty-six.

"... FAR ACROSS THE SEA OF MEMORY WE CAN SEE HER YET- HULL DOWN ..."

Erected by the New Zealand PAMIR Association Sponsored by the Union Shipping Group Limited."

For details see:  http://www.if-9.de/zei_b150.htm .
"PAMIR - The New Zealand Episode“
 © Peter Wells, Wellington, New Zealand