Hans Ditlev Bendixsen
Encyclopedia
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. His lumber schooners were built in or near Eureka, California
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
in shipyards on Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, United States entirely within Humboldt County. The regional center and county seat of Eureka and the college town of Arcata adjoin the bay, which is the second largest enclosed...
for over 30 years. These schooners played a major role in the historic west coast lumber trade
West coast lumber trade
The West Coast lumber trade was a maritime trade route on the West Coast of the United States. It carried lumber from the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and Northern and Central California mainly to the port of San Francisco.-Lumber schooners:...
.
Background
Hans Ditlev Bendixsen was born in Thisted of Region NordjyllandRegion Nordjylland
North Denmark Region or North Jutland Region is an administrative region of Denmark established on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the traditional counties with five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, the son of Frederik Carl Bendixsen, a tobacco merchant and Mariane von Mehren Bendixsen, both members of prominent Danish families. Bendixsen was apprenticed to the shipbuilders' trade in Aalborg for two years, When he had completed his apprenticeship he worked at various shipyards in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, after which he went to sea as a ship carpenter.
Career
Bendixsen came to California via Cape HornCape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, and found employment in Turner's shipyard
Matthew Turner (shipbuilder)
Matthew Turner was an American sea captain, shipbuilder and designer. He constructed 228 vessels, of which 154 were built in the Matthew Turner shipyard in Benicia...
, at San Francisco, until the year 1868, at which time he came to Eureka, California. He entered the employ of E. Cousins' shipyard, prior to beginning shipbuilding independently. From Eureka, Mr. Bendixsen removed his shipyard to nearby Fairhaven, California
Fairhaven, California
Fairhaven is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located west-southwest of downtown Eureka, at an elevation of 10 feet ....
. Spread out over fourteen acres were shops, sawmills, slips, timber yards, even cottages and gardens for 150 workers.
Often, Bendixsen owned shares in Bendixsen-built ships--vessels plying the coast with lumber or trading out to the sugar islands. After many good years an economic crisis within the lumber industry in 1877 forced Bendixsen to sell his shipyard so that he could pay his employees and creditors. He rented the shipyard from the new owners and continued to build ships. Seven years later he was able to buy back the shipyard.
Between 1875 and 1901 he launched 50 three and four-mast schooners and barkentines at his Fairhaven yard, and in his lifetime built some 115 vessels of all types including two-mast schooners, South Sea schooner and brigantines
Brigantine
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...
, and steamboats
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
. Bendixsen is best remembered for the three, four, and five-mast schooners he built for the west coast lumber trade. In 1901 he sold his shipbuilding plant for close to a quarter of a million of dollars.
Legacy
Certain of Bendixsen's lumber schooners have been in recent existence. The WawonaWawona
The three-masted, fore-and-aft schooner Wawona sailed from 1897 to 1947 as a lumber carrier and fishing vessel based in Puget Sound. The schooner was built in near Eureka, California on Humboldt Bay by Hans Ditlev Bendixsen , who was one of the most important West Coast shipbuilders of the late...
, built in 1897, was berthed at South Lake Union Park
South Lake Union Park
Lake Union Park is a park located at the south end of Lake Union in Seattle, Washington in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The park is owned by the City of Seattle and operated by Seattle Parks and Recreation. The park property was gradually acquired by the City, and the final were...
in Seattle. The Wawona was hauled to the Puget Sound Shipyard on March 4, 2009 and has since been dismantled.
A surviving Hans Bendixsen vessel is the C.A. Thayer
C.A. Thayer (1895)
The C.A. Thayer is a schooner built in 1895 near Eureka, California. The schooner is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park...
, built in 1895, located at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, USA. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility...
. The C.A. Thayer has been restored and sailed back to the Hyde Street Pier
Hyde Street Pier
The Hyde Street Pier is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California, amidst the tourist zone of Fisherman's Wharf....
on April 12th, 2007.