Gorch Fock (1958)

The "Gorch Fock" is a tall ship of the German Navy ("Deutsche Marine"). She is the second ship of that name and a sister ship of the "Gorch Fock" built in 1933. Both ships are named in honor of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916. The modern-day "Gorch Fock" was built in 1958 and has since then undertaken 146 cruises (as of October 2006), including one tour around the world in 1988. She is sometimes referred to (unofficially) as the "Gorch Fock II" to distinguish her from her older sister ship.

The ship

Because Germany had lost all its school ships as war reparations after World War II, the German Bundesmarine decided in 1957 to have a new training vessel built following the plans for the original "Gorch Fock" of 1933 which by now was owned by the Soviets, and renamed to "Tovarishch". The new ship was a modernized rebuild of the "Albert Leo Schlageter", a slightly modified sister ship of the previous "Gorch Fock".

The 1933 "Gorch Fock" had already been designed to be a very safe ship: she had a righting moment large enough to bring her back into the upright position even when heeling over to nearly 90°. Nevertheless some late-minute changes to the design were made in response to the "Pamir" disaster in 1957, especially concerning the strength of the body and the bulkheads as well as the lifesaving equipment, including the lifeboats.

The new ship was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, launched on 23 August 1958, and commissioned on 17 December of that year. Her home port is Kiel. The "Gorch Fock" is a three-masted barque with a steel hull 81.2 m (266 ft) long (without the bowsprit) and 12 m (40 ft) wide. She has a draught of some 5.2 m (17 ft) and a displacement at full load of 1760 tons. Originally, she carried 1952 m² of canvas sails; later, she received slightly larger sails made of synthetic materials. The tops of her fore and main masts can be lowered so that she can navigate the Kiel Canal, otherwise she would be too tall for some of the bridges spanning the canal.

Over the years, various modernizations have been applied to the ship. She was fitted with air conditioning, the asbestos used originally was removed and replaced by less dangerous materials in 1991, and in that year she also received a new auxiliary engine, a six cylinder diesel engine producing 1,220 kW (1660 hp), good for a top speed of 13.7 knots. The interior has also been modified multiple times; technological advances made it possible to reduce the size of the galley and enlarge the crew quarters.

Officially "Gorch Fock" is a "Type 441" class naval ship with the NATO pennant number "A60". Her international radio call sign is "DRAX".

The "Gorch Fock" participates in sailing parades and Tall Ships' Races, where she is in amicable rivalry with the Italian vessel Amerigo Vespucci.

The adventures of the figurehead

The "Gorch Fock" has lost her Figurehead several times:
* The first albatross from 1958 was lost after a few years.
* Its replacement was made of wood, like the first one.
* In 1969, it was removed and replaced by a figurehead made of polyester to save weight.
* This albatross broke off when the "Gorch Fock" was being overhauled in 2000. It was replaced by a new one made of wood.
* On December 11, 2002, the "Gorch Fock" lost her figurehead in a storm. The replacement was also made of wood.
* Again, the figurehead broke off in a storm on December 5 2003. On February 24, 2004, the ship got a new albatross, this time made of carbon fiber reinforced polyester.

The cruises

The Gorch Fock is since 1958 in German Navy service as a school ship. More than 11,000 cadets have been trained on the "Gorch Fock".Fact|date=September 2008

In 1987-88, she sailed around the world, with stops on five continents. Lasting 336 days, this was her second longest cruise, topped only by a training cruise in 1996-97 from Kiel to Bangkok and back that lasted 343 days.Fact|date=September 2008

"Gorch Fock" was in Boston Harbor on July 4, 2007, unfortunately mere minutes too late for Constitution's turnaround cruise.Fact|date=September 2008

"Gorch Fock" was docked in Brooklyn, New York for several days in late September 2007.Fact|date=September 2008

Over the last 50 years, at least six sailors have died in accidents aboard the "Gorch Fock", either by falling from the rigging or by going overboard. In the last incident, an 18-year-old officer-candidate drowned after falling off the training ship in the North Sea at night on Sept. 3, 2008.

Trivia

The Gorch Fock was depicted on the 10 DM banknote of the third series (1960-1990) issued by the Bundesbank and is therefore one of the most portrayed ships in the world. [ [http://www.germannotes.com/1980-DM-10.shtml German historical Banknotes] ]

Ships of the same class include "Sagres III", "Gorch Fock (1933)" and "Mircea".

References

External links

* [http://www.marine.de/portal/a/marine/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLNzKODwxxBcmB2d5mIfqRcNGglFR9X4_83FR9b_0A_YLciHJHR0VFAFDI-qo!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvd0ZNQUFzQUMvNElVRS82XzIzX1FTVg!! Official homepage] of the "Gorch Fock" at the German Navy web site. In German.
* [http://www.esys.org/gofo/index.html ESYS] - unofficial home page; in German.
* [http://www.janmaat.de/gfock.htm JanMaat] - in German.
* [http://www.gorchfock.de Gorch Fock Homepage] Another Gorch Fock home page in German.