he story behind the picture: Jo, the sailor

Jo, the sailor had signed on as a smutje (cook) on the Pamir. Launched in 1905, the Pamir had survived two world wars and sailed under different flags before being used again in the 1950s to bring barley from Buenos Aires to Hamburg. She was also one of the last sail training ships. The four-masted barque was scheduled to leave the port of Hamburg early in the morning of June 1, 1957. The night before, Jo met a young woman in St. Pauli and spent the night with her. After a far too long night he arrived at the port in the morning and had to realize that the Pamir had already left. He was terribly disappointed and then signed on with another ship that was also heading for South America. On September 21, 1957, they received a radio message: The Pamir had been caught in Hurricane Carrie about 600 nautical miles west-southwest of the Azores. The Pamir capsized at around 12:00 p.m. She lay flat in the water for about half a minute. Then she capsized further and swam keel up for about 30 minutes before sinking. A total of 80 of the 86 crew members died. Jo is now 86 years old, and he always likes to tell how the young woman saved his life on the Reeperbahn. Jo is my uncle. That's how he looks like today of course without the pipe. He never smoked a pipe. It is just an artistic element.

(Source: Insta from artist)