[1] She was the largest sailing ship in the world from 1907 (sinking of Thomas W. Lawson) to 1911 (launching of France II)[2][failed verification] and the second German five-masted barque.

In the beginning of the 20th century the shipyard employed some 650 personnel and built several extraordinary large sailing vessels for its parent company's rice trade.

[citation needed] R. C. Rickmers was built in 1906 and was the largest ship in the world from 1907, when Thomas W. Lawson sunk and until 1911, when France II was launched.

She arrived at New York in the fall of 1906 on her maiden voyage from Bremen to Saigon and Bangkok through Cape Horn.

[4] On 27 March 1917, while under the British flag returning from Mauritius to Le Havre with a cargo of sugar, Neath was sunk by the German submarine U-66 off the coast of Ireland.