View source for Gorch Fock (1933)

{{short description|German museum ship}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2008}}
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| Ship image=Gorch Fock (ship, 1933), Stralsund, 2019 (01).jpg
| Ship caption=''Gorch Fock'' in [[Stralsund]], 2019
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{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country= [[Germany]]
| Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Weimar Republic|naval}} {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}
| Ship name= ''Gorch Fock''
| Ship namesake= [[Gorch Fock (author)|Gorch Fock]]
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| Ship builder=[[Blohm & Voss]], [[Hamburg]]
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| Ship laid down=2 December 1932
| Ship launched=3 May 1933
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| Ship commissioned=26 June 1933
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| Ship fate=Scuttled, 1 May 1945
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| Ship country= [[Soviet Union]]
| Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
| Ship name= ''Tovarishch''
| Ship acquired=by salvage, 1947 
| Ship in service=1951 
| Ship out of service=1993
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| Ship fate= Passed to Ukraine, 1993
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| Ship country= Ukraine
| Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Ukraine}}
| Ship name= ''Tovarysh''
| Ship owner=[[Ministry of Education (Ukraine)]]
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| Ship acquired=1993
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| Ship fate=Sold to Germany in 2003
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{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country= Germany
| Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Germany}}
| Ship name= ''Gorch Fock''
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| Ship acquired=2003
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| Ship class=none
| Ship type=[[Barque]]
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| Ship displacement={{Convert|1510|LT|t|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} full load
| Ship length= {{Convert|82.1|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam= {{Convert|12|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height= {{Convert|41.3|m|abbr=on}} at main mast
| Ship draught= {{Convert|5.2|m|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion={{Convert|550|hp|0|abbr=on}} auxiliary engine
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'''''Gorch Fock I''''' (ex '''''Tovarishch''''', ex '''''Gorch Fock''''') is a German three-mast [[barque]], the first of a series built as [[school ship]]s for the German [[Reichsmarine]] in 1933.

After [[World War II]] she was taken as war reparations by the [[Soviet Union]] and renamed ''Tovarishch''.
In the 1990s she spent a short period under the [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] flag and a prolonged stay in British ports due to lack of funds for necessary repairs.

After being acquired by sponsors, she sailed to her original home port of [[Stralsund]] where her original name of ''Gorch Fock'' was restored on 29 November 2003. She now serves as a [[museum ship]], and extensive repairs were carried out in 2008.

In 1958 the Federal German government built a replacement training ship which is still in service, also named {{ship|German training ship|Gorch Fock|1958|2}}.

==History and details==
The German school ship ''[[Niobe (schooner)|Niobe]]'', a three-masted barque, capsized on 26 July 1932 in the [[Baltic Sea]] near [[Fehmarn]] due to a sudden squall, killing 69. The loss prompted the German Navy to order a new training vessel built. Flags were lowered to half-mast from [[Flensburg]] to [[Konstanz]] as a public outpouring of grief gripped the nation. The Prussian State Mint issued a ''Niobe'' memorial coin to help raise money for a replacement ship, and soon earned 200,000 Reichsmarks towards the effort.<ref name="Blohm+Voss">{{cite book |last1=Prager |first1=Hans Georg |title=Blohm+Voss: Ships And Machinery For The World |date=1977 |publisher=Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH |isbn=0904-609-146 |pages=153}}</ref>

A [[request for proposal]] went out to all the major shipyards, including [[Deutsche Werke]], [[Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft|Howaldtswerke]], and [[Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft|Germaniawerft]] for the "Project 1115 Replacement Niobe". [[Joh. C. Tecklenborg]], who had built one of Germany's previous training ships, ''[[Grossherzog Friedrich August]]'', had just gone out of business and was unable to compete. Dr Wilhelm Süchting's design for [[Blohm+Voss]], who had also built the German training ship, ''[[Dar Pomorza|Prinzess Eitel Friedrich]]'', won the bid, and construction began at their yard in [[Hamburg]] on 2 December 1932. She was completed in a record 100 days. <ref name="historischer schiffbau">{{cite web |last1=Lingenauber |first1=Klaus |title=GORCH FOCK I in Stralsund |url=https://www.arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/mitglieder/ontour/gorch-fock-i/ |website=Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref>

On 3 May 1933 the ship was launched and named ''Gorch Fock'' in honor of German writer [[Johann Kinau]], who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock". Kinau had died in the 1916 [[Battle of Jutland]] aboard the cruiser {{SMS|Wiesbaden}}. 10,000 spectators attended ''Gorch Fock's'' launching, including Johann Kinau's mother. The launching was presided by Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], and christened by Marie Fröhlich of the "German Woman's Fleet Association", with the ''[[German cruiser Karlsruhe|Karlsruhe]]'' on station as a guard of honor.<ref name="Blohm+Voss"/>

Commissioned by the German Navy on 26 June 1933, ''Gorch Fock'' is a three-masted barque. She has square sails on the fore and main masts, and is [[gaff rig]]ged on the mizzen. The steel hull has a sparred length of {{convert|82.1|m|0|abbr=on}}, a width of {{convert|12|m|0|abbr=on}} and a draught of {{convert|5.2|m|0|abbr=on}}. She has a displacement at full load of 1510&nbsp;[[tonnage|ton]]s. Her main mast stands {{convert|41.30|m|0|abbr=on}} high above deck and she carries 23 sails totalling {{convert|1753|m²|0|abbr=on}}. She is equipped with an auxiliary engine of {{convert|410|kW|hp|abbr=on|lk=on}}.

The training ship was designed to be robust and safe against capsizing. More than 300 tons of steel ballast in the keel give her a righting moment large enough to bring her back in the upright position even when she heels over to nearly a 90°.

''Gorch Fock'' served as a training vessel for the German Reichsmarine prior to World War II.<ref name="Harmsen">{{cite book|last1=Harmsen|first1=Jolien|last2=Ellis|first2=Guy|last3=Devaux|first3=Robert|title=A History of St Lucia|date=2014|publisher=Lighthouse Road|location=Vieux Fort|isbn=9789769534001|page=275}}</ref> During the war, she was a stationary office ship in Stralsund, until she was officially reactivated on 19 April 1944. On 1 May 1945, the crew scuttled her in shallow waters off [[Rügen]] in an attempt to avoid her capture by the Soviets, who already had fired at her for 45 minutes with tanks.

The Soviets ordered Stralsund-based company "B. Staude Schiffsbergung" to raise and salvage her, which after some difficulties was done in 1947 at a cost of 800,000 Reichsmark (equivalent to {{Inflation|DE|0.8|1947}} million {{Inflation-year|DE}} euros). She was under restoration between 1948 and 1950. She was then named ''Tovarishch'' (Russian for "Comrade"<ref>See Wiktionary entry for [[:wikt:товарищ|товарищ]]</ref>) in 1951 and put into service as a training vessel. Her new home port was [[Odessa]]. She participated in many [[Tall Ships' Races]] and cruised far and wide on the seven seas. She made a voyage around the world in 1957 and won the [[Operation Sail]] race twice, in 1974 and 1976.

After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, ''Tovarishch'' sailed under the [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] flag (home port [[Kherson]]) until 1993, when she needed repairs and was deactivated for lack of funds. In 1995, she sailed from Kherson to [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]], where private sponsors wanted to have her repaired. This failed because of the high costs, and in 1999, the ship was transported to [[Wilhelmshaven]], where she stayed in dock for four years until finally transferred to Stralsund in 2003. On 29 November 2003 the ship was re-christened ''Gorch Fock''.

As of 2011 the ship is in poor but stable condition. There is about six million dollars worth of restoration work required to bring this ship back to sailing condition. The museum had a dismal tourist season, resulting in a fifty thousand dollar loss in revenue from previous years. This has forced a layoff of five workers.{{old|2022|8|23}} The ship was renovated at a shipyard in Stralsund in 2024.<ref>[https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/mecklenburg-vorpommern/Gorch-Fock-wieder-hat-im-Stralsunds-Stadthafen-festgemacht,gorchfock2778.html "Gorch Fock" hat wieder im Stralsunder Stadthafen festgemacht], 19 May 2024, retrieved 20 May 2024 (german).</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Gorch FockI Schriftzug.jpg|Showing Stralsund flag, and with name "товарищ" painted over
File:Gorch Fock, 1933.jpg|''Gorch Fock'', painting of her early days at sea by the Swedish artist Gunnar Larsson (1907–1982).
File:Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-63-03, Segelschulschiff "Gorch Fock".jpg|''Gorch Fock'' in the 1930s
File:Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-63-20, Segelschulschiff "Niobe".jpg|''Niobe'', 1930
</gallery>

==Sister ships==
[[File:Eagle Schwesterschiffe 1938.JPG|thumb|1938 image of ''Albert Leo Schlageter'', ''Horst Wessel'', and ''Gorch Fock'' in ''Eagle's'' Wardroom]]
The design of ''Gorch Fock'' proved highly successful. She was the first of a series of five sister ships built by [[Blohm & Voss]], and a number of [[South America]]n school ships are also based on the same design. Of the three original [[sister ship]]s, only {{ship||Mircea|ship|2}} is an exact replica of ''Gorch Fock''. ''[[Horst Wessel (ship)|Horst Wessel]]'' and {{ship||Albert Leo Schlageter|sailing ship|2}} are {{convert|7|m|ft}} longer, and all three have slightly more powerful auxiliary engines.

===USCGC ''Eagle'' (ex ''Horst Wessel'')===

''[[Horst Wessel (ship)|Horst Wessel]]'' was launched in 1936&mdash;the growing Reichsmarine needed more school ships. Her home port was [[Kiel]]. At the end of World War II, she became one of several war reparations and was assigned to the [[United States]]. After some repairs in [[Wilhelmshaven]] and [[Bremerhaven]], she was sailed by her German crew including the Captain together with American sailors to her new home port of [[New London, Connecticut]]. Since then, she has sailed under the name {{USCGC|Eagle|WIX-327|2}} for the [[United States Coast Guard]].
{{Clear}}

===''Sagres'' (ex ''Albert Leo Schlageter'')===
[[File:Sagres II Opsail 2000 Crop.JPG|left|thumb|''Sagres'' at OpSail 2000 in [[New London, Connecticut]] where her sister ship ''Eagle'' is home-ported.]]

''Albert Leo Schlageter'' was launched on 30 October 1937. She was confiscated by the [[United States]] after World War II and then sold to [[Brazil]], where she sailed as a school ship under the name ''Guanabara''. In 1961, the [[Portuguese Navy]] bought her to replace the previous school ship ''Sagres'' (which was later transferred to [[Hamburg]], where she is a museum ship under her original name ''[[Rickmer Rickmers]]''). The Portuguese named her {{ship|NRP|Sagres|1937|2}} also. She still sails as of 2015, having completed a circumnavigation on 24 December 2010.
{{Clear}}

===''Mircea''===
[[File:Mircea at SAIL Amsterdam 2005.jpg|left|thumb|''Mircea'' at SAIL Amsterdam 2005]]

{{ship||Mircea|ship|2}} was built by Blohm & Voss for the [[Romanian Naval Forces|Romanian Navy]]. She was launched in 1938 and has always sailed under the [[Flag of Romania|Romanian flag]] (except for a short period after World War II, when she was confiscated by the [[Soviet Union]]). She is the only one of the sister ships that is truly identical to ''Gorch Fock''. She was overhauled at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg in 1966, and she still sails {{As of|2004|alt=today}}.
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===''Herbert Norkus''===
Named after the [[Hitler Youth]] martyr [[Herbert Norkus]], another ship of the ''Gorch Fock'' design&mdash;with the same dimensions as ''Horst Wessel''&mdash;was begun at the Blohm & Voss shipyard. However, the unfinished ship had to be launched prematurely on 7 November 1939 because the slipway had to be cleared to build [[submarine]]s. The hull stayed in the harbor of [[Hamburg]] throughout World War II. It was damaged in a bomb raid in 1945, and instead of being sold to Brazil as had been considered, ended up being filled with gas grenades and sunk in the [[Skagerrak]] in 1947.

The yards, which had been prepared, but not yet mounted, and the tackle, which had not yet been rigged, were later used for ''Gorch Fock'' built in 1958.

===''Gorch Fock''===
[[File:Gorch Fock unter Segeln Kieler Foerde 2006.jpg|left|thumb|''Gorch Fock'' of 1958]]
As Germany had lost all of its training vessels as [[war reparation]]s after World War II, the West German [[Bundesmarine]] decided in 1957 to have a new training ship built following the plans for ''Gorch Fock''. The new ship was a modernized rebuild of ''Horst Wessel''. Coincidentally, her design had been influenced by another shipwreck: whereas the 1933 ''Gorch Fock'' was built in response to the ''[[Niobe (schooner)|Niobe]]'' disaster, the plans of ''SSS Gorch Fock'' were altered somewhat after the sinking of  {{ship||Pamir|ship|2}} in 1957.

The modern-day {{ship||Gorch Fock|1958|2}} was launched on 23 August 1958 and commissioned on 17 December of that year.
{{Clear}}

===Latin American ships===
A number of similar ships have been built by the Astilleros Celaya S.A. shipyard in [[Bilbao]] for [[Latin America]]n Navies, possibly following the Blohm & Voss design{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}. The hulls and rigging of these ships are very similar, the main differences are in the superstructure and they also have larger tanks for both [[Diesel fuel|diesel]] and water, and they are also longer{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}. These ships are {{ship|ARC|Gloria||2}} (1967, [[Colombia]]), {{ship||Guayas|ship|2}} (1976, [[Ecuador]]), {{ship||Simón Bolívar|barque|2}} (1979, [[Venezuela]]), and {{ship|ARM|Cuauhtémoc|BE01|2}} (1982, [[Mexico]]).

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.gorchfock1.de/ The correct homepage of "Gorch Fock 1"]  {{Google translation|en|de|http://www.gorchfock1.de}}
* [http://www.esys.org/gofo/gofofam.html ESYS] page on the whole family of ships (in [[German language|German]]).
* [http://www.esys.org/gofo/gorch_10.html ESYS] page with links to the five original ships (in German).
* [http://www.janmaat.de/towar.htm JanMaat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722075117/http://www.janmaat.de/towar.htm |date=2010-07-22 }}&mdash;another German site on the ''Gorch Fock'' (ex ''Tovarishch'').

{{Blohm + Voss}}
{{Kriegsmarine}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|54|19|00|N|13|05|54|E|region:DE-MV_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Barques]]
[[Category:Museum ships in Germany]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Sailing ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hamburg]]
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy]]
[[Category:Ships of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Three-masted ships]]
[[Category:Tall ships of Germany]]
[[Category:1933 ships]]
[[Category:Gorch Fock-class sailing ships]]