Horst Wessel

[Hughman]

AKA USGC Eagle:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/p2507ca000b6bb98c6b59a74ce658fbdd/f7820b70.jpg
Foremast
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/p2b47a95dd04ff0a7268750e5bc6f42e3/f7820b75.jpg
Foremast pinrail
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/pa845b84f382e903baeaaabc6f53269a8/f7820b77.jpg
Ship's wheels
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/p1c250748e9d75790549568a680ad6869/f7820a8a.jpg
Captains salon

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/pd97e467e9cab1d32ed2f4ec2e2ba3794/f7820b73.jpg
Bell lanyard

[Hughman]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/pd139b1f917c8a9e6fb5de0017d31a91a/f7820b6c.jpg
Eagle, at Rockland, ME

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid133/pd4423a32bab393d75f67c7cd94c366bc/f7820a83.jpg
carved nameboard

[Hwyl]

I was aboard her in Portland, I asked the tour guide about her history and the Hitler connection.
He knew nothing, the other touristas thought I was nuts. I started to obnoxiously press my point, until my kids persuaded me to stop embarrasing them, I then asked if I could climb the rig. I'm the immature one in my family these days, I should have just climbed the rig. I saw her sailing in about 25 kts in the straits of Florida once---perfect

[N. Scheuer]

TRUE NORTH and another Shearwater went out to meet the EAGLE whne she arrived in Portland last weekend. WSeeing as how a mild breeze was blowing right into the harbor, we had hoped to see her under sail.

Alas, twas not to be. The EAGLE motored in so slowly that she didn't even raise a milk mark on her bow. The main show seemed to be the seven USCG escourt vessels of various sizes, one of them a serious gunboat. We kept a respectful distance so as to not attract their attention, as the little orange one buzzed around continually, warning off any boats that tried to get too close.

I wondered what would have happened it a sailboat with a cerimonial cannon had decided to greet the EAGLE in style. We saw (and heard) two such sailboats on our cruise, both in Pulpit Harbor. There's a dog on shore there that gets real excited when one of those cannons discharges.

Moby Nick

Moby Nick

[martin schulz]

Originally posted by Hwyl:
I was aboard her in Portland, I asked the tour guide about her history and the Hitler connection.
He knew nothing, the other touristas thought I was nuts. I started to obnoxiously press my point, until my kids persuaded me to stop embarrasing them, I then asked if I could climb the rig.Perhaps she was already seen as an original american boat.

I am not sure but I don't think she was ever used for propaganda in Nazi Germany. She has been built as schoolship for Navy cadets and they just gave her the name of the then famous leader of the Nazi Youths.

http://www.janmaat.de/wesselp2.jpg

What is very typical for german squareriggers from that time is the mizzen-sail arangement. The 1st "Gorch Fock" (later the russian "Tovaritsch", now again the "Gorch Fock I") had it, as well as the "Horst Vessel", who was built like the "Gorch Fock", just a bit longer. The new "Gorch Fock" of the german Navy has those sails as well.

[ 08-10-2004, 03:59 AM: Message edited by: martin schulz ]

[martin schulz]

The Sistership of the "Horst Wessel"/"Eagle" was the 1937 built "Albert Leo Schlagter". After the war she was brought to the US, but since the US Navy didn't know what to do with another sailing Schoolship, she was sold to Brazil where she sailed with the name "Guanabara" and then sold back to Europe (Portugal) where she is now sailing as "Sagres II".

http://www.janmaat.de/schlag_guan.jpg

[martin schulz]

To finish this little maritime history lesson there is just one more ship of those "Fab Four" to mention.
The "Mircea". She was built as identical sistership to the "Gorch Fock I" built 1938 for the rumanian Navy. After a brief period of sailing for Russia, she is again a rumanian Schoolship.

http://www.marine.de/80256B100061BA9B/vwContentByKey/N255AUZS713MMISDE/$File/mirceakl.jpg

[Hwyl]

Martin, the U.S. also has the "Peking" which is in sad shape. She's dwarfed by the buildings around her.

She would be a great sail training ship.

There is anecdotal evidence that Hitler was there at the launch of "Horst Wessel", there is a passive effort here to claim that all history is American history and to obliterate all other parts of history. A colleague even claimed that Eric Clapton was American (it is true that his father was Canadian)

[martin schulz]

Originally posted by Hwyl:
Martin, the U.S. also has the "Peking" which is in sad shape. She's dwarfed by the buildings around her.Well the "Peking" is of course one of the Flying P-liners that the Leisz shipping company got famous with. The "Peking" was built 1910 almost simultaneously with the "Passat" (now also a poor Museumship docked in Travemünde) when the 5 Mast Barque "Preußen" got lost in the channel.

But honestly I don't think, that trying to get those boats that were designed purely as freighters to serve as Schoolship, is a good idea. The last time Germany had an ex Flying P-Liners as Schoolship, the "Pamir" was a major desater when she capsided, because of loose freight and everybody drowned back in the 50s. The "Passat" which was then also a Schoolship was instantly docked because of that desater and the Gorch Fock II was built, designed as Schoolship.
2 years ago there was a group of people who calculated modernizing the "Passat" to serve as Schoolship again. They are now collecting money to have a new boat build, because modernizing the "Passat" is just too expensive.

But then I have some hinted information that the same organisation that bought the "Wander Bird" now again the "Elbe No. 5" is interessted in getting the "Peking" back to Germany.

[Don Olney]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid87/p20790bd1cd05792bb589181ada681808/faa585f9.jpg

October 2004 New London, CT

[Scott Rosen]

"October 2004"?!

[Don Olney]

Errrrr! 2003!

[Hughman]

Originally posted by martin schulz:
But then I have some hinted information that the same organisation that bought the "Wander Bird" now again the "Elbe No. 5" is interessted in getting the "Peking" back to Germany.I have heard of this here, too. A chief engineer I know has been in discussions with a towing company on the logistics of the transfer.

[Hwyl]

Originally posted by martin schulz:
[.
.

But then I have some hinted information that the same organisation that bought the "Wander Bird" now again the "Elbe No. 5" is interessted in getting the "Peking" back to Germany.I think that would be a good thing to happen, at least it might persuade someone in New York to do somethhing about it. I raced a schooner at South Street once and had an awfully unfriendly reception, they would not let us raft outside any of their boats--they were just on the edge of being pugnacious.

[ 08-10-2004, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Hwyl ]

[martin schulz]

Originally posted by Hughman:
I have heard of this here, too. A chief engineer I know has been in discussions with a towing company on the logistics of the transfer.I wonder what is going on in Hamburg. Right now there is the biggest ever building project of europe in the old storehouse district at the water. They are planning a major rebuild wich will add 20% living space to Hamburg and part of it is a big maritime history harbour right in the middle. That's the place were the Maritime Center of Hamburg will have their boats, which includes almost 15 different boats apart from the "Elbe No.5", ex "Wander Bird".
But what puzzles me is that the guy in charge of the organisation already told me that the purchase of the "Elbe No.5" was too expensive and the people in Hamburg didn't donate as much as they expected.
I wonder where he will get the discussed 750.000 USD for the "Peking" from.