[1] Its primary purpose was as a "nitrate clipper" collecting guano in South America for use in chemical companies in Germany (mainly for making explosives and fertiliser).

[2] As its shipping route was between Germany, Bolivia until 1870 but, during the "pacific War" was transferred to Chile, it was designed to be capable of withstanding the rough weather encountered around Cape Horn.

[10] She was assigned the call sign RKGB, and as with all P-liners her hull was black with a white waterline and a red underwater ship—the colours of the German flag at that time.

He also points out that "none of the four- or five-masted Laeisz ships ever foundered or was dismasted in a Cape Horn storm in the course of countless voyages.

The Potosi was launched in 1895 at the shipyard of J. C. Tecklenborg AG, Geestemünde and was used in the saltpetre trade (Salpeterfahrt) between Chile and Germany, setting record speeds in the process, due to her excellent sailing characteristics.

Georg Schlüter (2 round voyages), Jochim Hans Hinrich Nissen (10), Johann Frömcke (3), and Robert Miethe (4) followed.

In 1917 while still moored in Valparaiso, she was sold to the F. A. Vinnen shipping company of Bremen, but on October 2, 1920, she was given to France as part of the vast war reparation demanded from Germany.

[12] After a year of repair and refit, in December 1924, under the name of "Flora", August Oetzmann, a former Laeisz captain, sailed her to Hamburg with a cargo of nitrate in 110 days arriving on 30 March 1925.

On September 15, 1925, en route to Cape Horn, the ship caught fire off the Patagonian coast northwest of the Falkland Islands (at 50°17.5'S, 61° 42'W).

Captain A. Oetzmann decided to set course to Comodoro Rivadavia, reaching the harbour, which was merely a bay with a sandy beach, a long wooden pier, and several petrol tanks, on September 18, 1925.

There, inside the Liverpool house, dry and well-ventilated accommodation for crew, mates, and captain were installed, as well as the pantry and chart room.

[citation needed] From bow to stern her five masts were named as follows: In German: Standard nomenclature for five-masted schooners and barquentines