Germany’s sail training programme for officers and cadets suffered a tragedy when in 1932 the sailing ship Niobe capsized in a storm with considerable loss of life. A programme of construction resulted in the appearance in the late 1930s of three new sister ships of a new class of three-masted barques: the Albert Leo Schlageter, the Horst Wessel and the Gorch Fock. These beautiful ships were to be responsible for training a new generation of naval officer cadets in seamanship over the next few years, carrying out goodwill cruises to a number of foreign ports throughout the world.
After the outbreak of war brought her sail training voyages to an end, Albert Leo Schlageter remained in port where she served as an administration ship – in effect, floating offices. However, she was recalled to service in the Baltic in 1944, and in November of that year ran onto a Soviet mine and had to be towed back to port. She was in Flensburg at the end of the war, and was handed over to the US Navy, who retained her for three years before selling her to Brazil. She remained there until 1961, when she was sold on to Portugal, and is still in service to this day as the Sagres.
The Segelschulschiff Gorch Fock, one of three beautiful three-masted barques built to give prospective naval officers a taste of life ‘before the mast’. This fine vessel survived the war and is still in existence today. (Deutsches U-Boot-Museum)
On the outbreak of war Horst Wessel’s training duties were severely curtailed though not completely stopped, and she began a new role as a military transport ship; during operations in the Baltic she was even credited with shooting down three Soviet aircraft. After repairs and refitting in Wilhelmshaven at the end of the war, Horst Wessel was handed over to the US Navy, and in 1946 she was commissioned into the US Coastguard as the Coastguard Cutter Eagle; she is still in service today.
On the outbreak of war Gorch Fock, like her sister ship Albert Leo Schlageter, was used as a floating administrative office, based in Stralsund. She was formally reactivated in April 1944; and in May 1945, as Soviet forces approached, she was taken into shallow waters near Rügen and scuttled. However, she was raised by the Soviets and completely repaired and refitted; she served her new masters as the Tovarisch, taking part in many international ‘Tall Ships’ races. On the break-up of the Soviet Union she found herself under Ukrainian ownership. In 1995 she was sold and taken to Great Britain for a complete refit; from there she was sold once again, to German owners, returning to her country of origin and being renamed Gorch Fock. She is currently a museum ship.
It is interesting to note that Germany commissioned a new Gorch Fock in 1958, built to the same plans as the original with only a few modifications to bring her up to modern safety specifications.
All of the class carried around 2,000m2 of sail as well as the diesel auxiliary engine, and were fitted with a small number of 2cm flak guns for weapons training.
| Specifications for the class: | |||
| Length | 89m | Top speed | 17 knots |
| Beam | 12m | Endurance | 8,000 nautical miles |
| Displacement | 1,755 tons | Crew | Up to 290 (including trainees) |
| Powerplant | 750hp diesel auxiliary engine | ||