Peking (ship)

The Peking was a four-masted steel-hulled barque built in 1911 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany. She was one of the "Flying P-Liners," the famous cargo ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. These ships were renowned for their speed and reliability on the nitrate trade route between Europe and Chile, rounding Cape Horn multiple times.

The Peking carried nitrate, used in the production of fertilizers and explosives, from Chile to Europe and brought back coal and other goods. She sailed under the German flag until the outbreak of World War I, when she was seized in Valparaiso, Chile, by the Chilean government.

After the war, she was transferred to Italy as war reparations and renamed Italia. However, F. Laeisz repurchased her in 1923 and restored her original name.

In 1932, the Peking was sold to the Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa Training Ship, a British organization that used her as a training ship for boys. She was renamed Arethusa II at this time.

In 1974, she was sold to the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. After a period of restoration, she became a museum ship and a popular tourist attraction.

In 2017, the Peking was sold to the Stiftung Hamburg Maritim foundation and returned to Hamburg for extensive restoration. She is intended to be a centerpiece of the German Port Museum (Deutsches Hafenmuseum) in Hamburg, offering visitors a tangible connection to the era of commercial sailing ships and the history of global trade. The Peking represents a significant piece of maritime heritage, symbolizing the era of large sailing ships and their role in international commerce.