Lessing

The wooden barque Lessing was built in Germany in 1868.  The story of the loss of this brand new wooden barque on the shores of Fair Isle is legendary on the island.  She left her home port of Bremerhaven, Germany for New York on her maiden voyage on 18th May 1868.  On board were 445 passengers, mainly emigrants heading to a new life in America, a valuable general cargo and a crew of 20 seamen.  She was under the command of an experienced navigator, Captain Gardes.  The early part of the voyage across the North Sea proceeded to plan in perfect weather and favourable winds.  

However, as the ship reached the area of the east Scottish coast in the early hours of the morning of 23rd May the wind veered from north east to south east and a dense fog rolled in, enveloping Lessing and reducing visibility dramatically.  In the dark gloomy night Gardes had to rely on dead reckoning to determine his position further complicated by the strong tides that flow between the islands off the Scottish north coast.   By 6am that morning Gardes believed his ship was 40 miles west of Fair Isle but this assessment was to prove disastrously wrong.   Suddenly the lookout at the bow shouted that there was land dead ahead and, despite Gardes attempt to tack the ship, foiled by the crew missing stays during the manoeuvre,  she ran onto the rocks, striking the shore head on breaking her jib boom and bowsprit. For more than an hour she was swept back and forth against the rocks before she finally sheered round and stuck fast between the two steep rocky sides of Clavers Geo, Fair Isle.  The passengers aboard were in serious danger and for a time panic ensued.

The ship’s predicament was observed from the shore by the local population who immediately rushed to assist.  The ship was jammed between the rocks but she had come ashore in a dangerous but fortunate position.  Clavers Geo is joined to a cave named Haswell on the other side of the promontory by a tunnel hewn out of the rocks by the tides and waves over the centuries.  With little delay boats from the shore began to pull alongside Lessing accessing the stranded ship through the tunnel to disembark the passengers then the crew onto the island.  The ship’s own lifeboats were lowered and took more passengers ashore through the rocky tunnel. Despite the exposed position of the wreck all the passengers and crew were safely taken off and landed on the shore nearby in less than four hours.   

When they reached the shore the ordeal was not quite over.  The landing spot was on a beach at the bottom of 300 foot high cliffs with a narrow winding path with the locals guiding them up the dangerous route the only way to reach ultimate safety .  It took hours more for this phase of the rescue to complete and so, twelve hours after the Lessing stranded, the men, women and children who had been aboard the barque stood at the top of the cliff able to look down on the stranded vessel jammed between the rocks of Clavers Geo 300 feet below.  Eight of the passengers, too frightened to climb the narrow winding path, spent the night below on the beach cowering under a makeshift tent of sails before they too were guided up the path the following morning.  The weather remained calm and over the next few days most of the passengers luggage and effects were saved and some small portion of the cargo also recovered but the ship herself was to become a total wreck.