Gorch Fock (1958)
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The ''Gorch Fock'' is a tall ship of the
German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
(''Deutsche Marine''), built in 1958 as a replacement for the original '' Gorch Fock'' built in 1933 which was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union after World War II, renamed Tovarishch, and returned to Germany in 2003. Both ships are named in honour 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 as a delayed sister ship to five ships built in the 1930s, 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 ''Gorch Fock'' is under the command of the
Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...
in Flensburg-
Mürwik Mürwik ( da, Mørvig) is a community of Flensburg in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Situated on the east side of the Flensburg Firth, it is on the Angeln peninsula. Mürwik is the location of the Naval Academy at Mürwik, w ...
.


The ship

Germany lost all of its school ships as
war reparation War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. R ...
s after
World War II 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 opposing ...
to the Allies, so the West German
Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
decided in 1957 to have a new training vessel built following the plans for the original ''Gorch Fock'' of 1933 which by that time was owned by the Soviets, and renamed to ''Tovarishch''. The new ship was a modernized repeat 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 last-minute changes to the design were made in response to the ''
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'' disaster in 1957, especially concerning the strength of the body and the bulkheads as well as the lifesaving equipment, including the
lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...
s. The new ship was built by Blohm & Voss in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, launched on 23 August 1958, and commissioned on 17 December of that year. Her home port is
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern 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 Jutland ...
. The ''Gorch Fock'' is a three-masted
barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
with a steel hull 81.2 m (266 ft) long (without the
bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...
) 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 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 The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...
, otherwise she would be too tall for some of the bridges spanning the canal. Officially ''Gorch Fock'' is a ''Type 441'' class
naval ship A naval ship is a military ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are Damage control, damage resilient a ...
with the
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pennant number ''A60''. Her international radio
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
is ''DRAX''.


Renovations and repair problems

Over the years, various modernizations have been applied to the ship. She was fitted with
air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
, 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 A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
producing 1,220 kW (1660  hp), giving the ship a top speed of under power. 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. In November 2015 the ship was brought to the German shipyard Elsflether Werft at
Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...
because of hull problems with a first cost estimate of 9.6 million euro. With the discovery of more problems the estimate was stepwise raised to 64.5 million euro within a year. Despite concerns about the rising costs the Ministry of Defense approved a continuation of the repairs. In 2017 it was determined that the amount of work required was much greater; this included the almost complete replacement of the hull plating, renewal of decks and refurbishment of the engine with a cost estimated at 135 million euro. In January 2018 repairs were stopped while a review was carried out by the Ministry of Defence, including consideration of replacing ''Gorch Fock'' with a new vessel. In March 2018 it was announced that the project would continue, noting that a new vessel could not be delivered until 2025, and that the existing vessel would re-enter service in 2019. However, in January 2019 the ship was reported to be in a "completely dismantled" state. A review by the Bundesrechnungshof (Federal Audit Office) was sharply critical of the procurement process by the Ministry of Defense. Also, at the end of January 2019, the
executive board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
and the board of directors of the shipyard were released of their duty. While the ''Gorch Fock'' is under repair the Romanian sister ship '' Mircea'' has been used for training. On 1 September 2021 the ''Gorch Fock'' took to sea for the first time in six years for its first trial run after its extensive renovations. On 30 September 2021 the ''Gorch Fock'' will be returned to the German navy.


The figurehead

The ship's
figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
was designed by Heinrich Schroeteler, a former World War II U-boat commander. The figurehead has been replaced on several occasions: * The first albatross from 1958 was lost after a few years; its replacement was made of
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
, like the original. * In 1969, the replacement 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 11 December 2002, the ''Gorch Fock'' figurehead was lost in a storm. The replacement was also made of wood. * Again, the figurehead broke off in a storm on 5 December 2003. On 24 February 2004, the ship was fitted with a new albatross, this time made of
carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
reinforced polyester.


The cruises

The ''Gorch Fock'' has been in German Navy service as a training ship since 1958. Since she has been commissioned, more than 14,500 cadets have been trained on the ''Gorch Fock''. The ''Gorch Fock'' participates in sailing parades and Tall Ships' Races, where she is in amicable rivalry with the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
vessel '' Amerigo Vespucci''. Other ships of the same class include the '' USCGC Eagle'', '' Sagres'', ''
Gorch Fock (1933) ''Gorch Fock I'' (ex ''Tovarishch'', ex ''Gorch Fock'') is a German three-mast barque, the first of a series built as school ships for the German Reichsmarine in 1933. She was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union after World War II and ...
'' and '' Mircea''. The Gorch Fock can host up to 350 passengers on board. In 1987–88, she sailed around the world, with stopovers 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 Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
and back that lasted 343 days. At least six sailors have died in accidents aboard the ''Gorch Fock'', either by falling from the rigging or by going overboard. Recent fatalities include an 18-year-old officer-candidate who went overboard at night in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
on 3 September 2008. On 7 November 2010, an officer-candidate perished when she fell from the rigging. The accident happened during an exercise while the ship was moored in the port of
Salvador da Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisi ...
(Brazil)."Woman sailor dies in Gorch Fock training accident"
/ref> In the aftermath of the latest accident, naval cadets refused to climb the rigging (the highest position on the main mast being ), and four of them were subsequently accused of "inciting rebellion"."Germany investigates alleged Gorch Fock Mutiny"
/ref> This was described as a mutiny in some accounts. Subsequently, officers' training on board the ''Gorch Fock'' was suspended, pending a thorough review of training protocols as well as the entire training program. According to a 19 November 2010 statement issued by the German Fleet Command, the officer candidates then on board were to be flown back to Germany to continue their training while the ship was docked in
Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's souther ...
, Argentina. The commanding officer was suspended, and a commission was appointed to investigate claims of sexual harassment and improper conduct. On 13 March 2011, all charges against the commanding officer were dismissed."Investigators clear Gorch Fock commander of allegations"
The Local, 13 March 2011


References


External links


Official homepage
of the ''Gorch Fock'' at the German Navy web site. In
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
.
ESYS
- unofficial home page; in German.
Gorch Fock Homepage
Another Gorch Fock home page in German.
English website
of the Gorch Fock {{Authority control Barques Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Hamburg Training ships of the German Navy Tall ships of Germany Three-masted ships Maritime incidents in 2010 Military scandals Gorch Fock-class sailing ships 1958 ships pl:Gorch Fock