The ''Shenandoah'' is a three-masted

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

with a steel hull, built in New York in 1902. She is a private

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

History

''Shenandoah'' was designed by

Theodore E. Ferris Theodore Ernest Ferris (August 17, 1872 – May 30, 1953) was an American naval architect and engineer responsible for the "Ferris Designs" used by the US Emergency Fleet Corporation, of the United States Shipping Board, during World War I. Early ...

for the American financier Gibson Fahnestock. She was launched in 1902 in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, and her first home port was Newport, and she sailed the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

until 1905. The schooner has a strong resemblance to German

Emperor Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...

's ''Meteor III'' which was built in the same shipyard. In 1912 she was bought by the German Walther von Brüning. Her new home port became

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

and she was renamed ''Lasca II''. She was confiscated by the British navy during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1919 the yacht was acquired by Lord John Espen, who rechristened her ''Shenandoah''. Two years later it was bought by Godfrey H. Williams and refitted with engines. In 1925, the yacht was sold again to the Italian prince Spado Veralli and rechristened ''Atlantide''.

Viggo Jarl and the Atlantide expedition

''Atlantide'' was bought in 1929 by the Danish sculptor Viggo Jarl, heir to the Danish industrial tycoon C. F. Tietgen and son of Vilhelm Jørgensen, part owner of the very profitable mining company Kryolitselskabet Øresund. Jarl refitted the ship with large amounts of modern equipment, including diesel engines and electricity. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

''Atlantide'' was hidden in a Danish shipyard in Troense, where one engine and all masts were removed, to make the ship not seaworthy and thus useless for the German occupying forces. After the war the ship was brought back into shape and Jarl generously offered the ship at the disposal of

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

for a ten-month oceanographic expedition, all expenses paid for. This expedition, led by Dr.

Anton Bruun Anton Frederik Bruun (14 December 1901 – 13 December 1961) was a Danish oceanographer and ichthyologist. Educated at University of Copenhagen (1926) and employed at the Danish Commission for Marine Research (Kommissionen for Danmarks Fiskeri- ...

, went to the tropical waters along the African west coast and became known as the Atlantide expedition. Rigging the ship for the expedition was difficult immediately after the war and equipment had to be borrowed from here and there. Wires for the trawls were obtained in England, where they had served as anchor wires for

blimps A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hyd ...

during the war. As a courtesy in return for this favour, as well as permission from the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

to navigate the high seas immediately after the war, a British zoologist was invited to join the expedition. The choice fell on Francis C. Fraser, who later became director of the

British Museum Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. The other scientists onboard besides Fraser and Bruun were

Torben Wolff Torben is a Danish variant of the given name Torbjörn. People named Torben include: *Torben Betts (born 1968), English playwright and screenwriter *Torben Boye (born 1966), Danish former footballer *Torben Frank (born 1968), Danish former footbal ...

and

Jørgen Knudsen Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegian gymnast * Jørge ...

. The expedition left Copenhagen on 3 October 1945. The scientific work started at the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, which were reached on 8 December. Most of the work was done in the

epipelagic zone The photic zone, euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis. It undergoes a series of physical, chemical, and biological proc ...

(between 15 and 150 m) along the coast between

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

to the north and

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, Angola to the south. ''Atlantide'' returned to Copenhagen on 17 June 1946. The expedition produced a wealth of new knowledge about the oceanography and marine life in a part of the ocean that had previously been very poorly studied. The scientific results were published jointly by the

Zoological Museum of Copenhagen The Copenhagen Zoological Museum (Danish language, Danish: ''Zoologisk Museum'') is a part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen. History The Zoological Museum It is among the world's ol ...

and the

in 14 volumes of the ''Atlantide Reports'', the last volume published in 1993.

Later owners

Jarl sold ''Atlantide'' to France in 1952. The owner was the company Compania de Navigacion San Augustin. The exact whereabouts of the ship in the following years is not well known, but it is believed that the ship was involved in illegal shipping of various contraband in Central America. What is known is that the ship was seized by French customs in 1962. Moored and left to decay, the ship was eventually bought by French industrialist Baron

Marcel Bich Marcel Louis Michel Antoine Bich, baron Bich (; 29 July 1914 – 30 May 1994) was an Italian-born, French manufacturer and co-founder of Bic, the world's leading producer of ballpoint pens, lighters, and razors. Early years Bich was born in Tur ...

in 1972 after fighting a veritable paper war with the French authorities. Bich restored the ship to full previous glory and returned her name to ''Shenandoah''. Under his ownership she became a charter yacht, sailing mainly in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1986 she was sold to Swiss businessman Phillip Bommer, who performed a complete restoration at the

McMullen & Wing shipyard McMullen is a surname with predominantly Irish origins but also with some Scottish history. It derives from root forenames such as: Maolain, Maelan "Hillock" and Meallain "Pleasant". All of these forenames have over time evolved to the collater ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Most of the original riveted hull was replaced and in 1997 the ''Shenandoah'' was awarded "Best Classic Yacht Restoration". The ship is now owned by Italian Francesco Micheli, registered on the island of

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

and sails as a charter vessel.

Notes and references

Bibliography

website
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25-minute
video tour made in 2022 {{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919) 1900s sailing yachts 1902 ships Individual sailing yachts Schooners of the United States Ships built in New York City

History

Viggo Jarl and the Atlantide expedition

Later owners

See also

Notes and references

Bibliography