Wyvern (vessel)

''Wyvern'' is a open sea sailing ship operated by Stavanger Maritime Museum. The ship was designed by Colin Archer on a commission from British-born Frederick Croft and was launched on 10 August 1897. She sailed under the German flag from 1909. The Norwegian newspaper editor Rolf Thommessen bought her in 1924 and renamed her ' (''Mermaid III''). This name was kept by the English owners, Anne and Terrence Carr, who acquired her in 1947 and sold her to Christian-Frederick Mattner in 1970--who renamed her to the original 'Wyvern'.She was contracted for sale to a Norwegian consortium for £ 50 000 //of which £30 000 is still owed// after having been hijacked from San Antonio Ibiza.

In 1984, ''Wyvern'' was donated to the Stavanger Maritime Museum by local companies which had paid for her restoration. She sank in the Baltic Sea on 11 July 2013 during the 2013 Tall Ships' Race. The crew were rescued, but a member of a rescue team died during the accident. She was raised from the sea in August 2013 and returned to Stavanger. In December 2013, Her repairs started at a Denmark shipyard.

Description

The vessel is long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her main mast is . The vessel carries of sail and has a Volvo Penta diesel engine as auxiliary power. She is assessed as , .

History

Frederick Croft, a timber merchant who was born in Hull, United Kingdom but lived in Skien, Norway, commissioned the vessel in 1894 from Colin Archer, a ship designer and ship builder who also built ''Fram'' for the explorer Fridtjov Nansen. The construction took place at the shipbuilding yard Porsgrund Baatbyggeri which was headed by Thor Martin Jensen. Named after the heraldic beast wyvern, the vessel was launched in 1897. Croft used her among other things to sail to his hometown Hull.The Colin Archer yacht Wyvern
Stavanger Maritime Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2014.

She sailed, from 1909, under the German flag and the name ''Tatjana'', but later returned to Norway. Newspaper editor Rolf Thommessen bought her in 1924 and renamed her ' (''Mermaid III''). This name was kept when she was sold in 1934 to the English couple Anne and Terrence Carr. They sailed her for 27 years. The Carrs crossed the Atlantic twelve times and in the 1950s sailed around the world in the vessel.

In 1970 she was acquired by Christian-Frederick Mattner and renamed back to "Wyvern'. In 1973/4 'Wyvern' was extensively restored in a Spanish Shipyard and registered in Panama.

In 1978 'Wyvern' was contracted, for Sterling£ 50000.- to a Norwegian consortium--which loaded Wyvern/ without the owners consent/onto a Norwegian Oil-supply ship/ without paying the Purchase monies in full/ Sterling £ 30000,- is still outstanding.
After an initiative by the Norwegian Maritime Museum, she was brought back to Norway for restoration by companies in the oil industry in Rogaland in 1978. In 1984, she was given to Stavanger Maritime Museum as a cultural monument by Crown Prince Haakon. Sailed by volunteers, she has represented Stavanger in several national and international sailing regattas and gatherings, including five Tall Ship races.

2013 shipwreck and salvage

On 11 July 2013, during the 2013 Tall Ships' Race, ''Wyvern'' started to take in water between the Swedish islands Gotland and Öland.Nina Berglund (11 July 2013
Historic vessel sinks off Sweden
News in English. Retrieved 10 February 2014. Sweden’s air and sea rescue service retrieved the ten crew members; ''Wyvern'' sank about four hours after she had sent her distress call.

Three crew members from the Dutch sailship ''Wylde Swan'', which also participated in the Tall Ships' race, went onboard ''Wyvern'' shortly before she sank in an attempt to rescue the vessel by pumping out water. Two of the crew were later rescued, but a third crew member went down with the ship. He was found in the sea on 14 July 2013.

''Wyvern'' lay about under water after the foundering and various oil companies donated money to salvage her. Salvagers raised her from the Baltic Sea on 11 August 2013 and brought her to Stavanger on board the ship . She arrived in Stavanger on 15 August 2013. The cause of the foundering was found to be fractures in three keel bolts.

Note from C>F>Mattner // owner 1970-1978; The fact of corroded keel bolts was known & disclosed, to the consortium which contracted to purchase Wyvern in 1978--the lack of funds to afford such a repair, was the reason for C.F. Mattner's decision selling the vessel.

In December 2013, ''Wyvern'' sailed to Denmark for repairs at a shipyard.Wyvern til Danmark for restaurering
Stavanger Maritime Museum. Retrieved 14 February 2014

References

{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)

Ships built in Norway
Individual yachts
Tall ships of Norway
Tall ships of Germany
Tall ships of the United Kingdom
Training ships
Museum ships in Norway
1897 ships
Maritime incidents in 2013