Gustaf Erikson

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Gustaf Adolf Mauritz Erikson (1872 in Lemland – 1947 in Mariehamn) was a ship owner from the Åland islands. He was famous for the fleet of windjammers he operated to the end of his life, mainly on the grain trade from Australia to Europe. Erikson was involved in sailing for virtually his entire life. He went to sea at age 9, was commanding a sailing vessel in the North Sea trade by age 19, and was master of a number of square-rigged vessels before becoming an owner. His ships were bought cheaply, as most shipping companies switched to steam ships about the turn of the century; Erikson would often acquire ships at shipbreakers' prices. In the early 1920s, some competition still remained for the windjammers sold – the shipping company F. Laeisz even ordered new sailing ships in the 1920s – but in the 1930s, Erikson owned a significant share of the operational windjammers of the world. In March 1935, he purchased Moshulu, "one of the finest steel barques afloat", for only $12,000. By the late 1930s, the South Australian grain trade was virtually the only profitable use for windjammers, and then only if the ship owner minimized costs as much as possible. Erikson supplied his ships adequately with crew and supplies, as these were necessary for his ships to sail quickly and efficiently, but supplied neither more crew nor equipment than was necessary. Erikson's large four-masted barques would routinely sail on voyages of 30,000 nautical miles (56,000 km) with less than 30 crew. In 1935, 19-year old Richard Brinsley Sheridan published his book Heavenly Hell: The Experiences of an Apprentice in a Four-Mast Barque, describing his 10 months on Erikson’s barque Lawhill. A young Eric Newby sailed to Australia on Moshulu in 1938–1939 as part of the South Australian...