The tallship ''Søren Larsen'' is a brigantine built in 1949 in

Nykøbing Mors Nykøbing Mors is the largest town on the island of Mors in the Limfjord in Denmark. The town received its charter in 1299 and has a population of 9,033 (1 January 2022).

, Denmark. Her current homeport is Sydney, Australia.

Design and construction

The vessel was constructed by Søren Larsen and Sons at their shipyard in

Nykøbing Mors Nykøbing Mors is the largest town on the island of Mors in the Limfjord in Denmark. The town received its charter in 1299 and has a population of 9,033 (1 January 2022).

.Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. vii She is in length overall, with a beam of , and a draught of . The hull was carvel-built primarily from oak and beech. She was originally

galeas A galeas is a type of small trade vessel that was common in the Baltic Sea and North Sea from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The characteristics of the ships depend somewhat from where the ship originated. Swedish variants had two masts and ...

-rigged, with an auxiliary engine. The B&W Alpha diesel could propel the ship at .Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. 2 The ship's single hold was accessible through three hatches. ''Søren Larsen'' was named after her builder, and was one of the last ships produced by the shipyard.

Operational history

The ship was employed on the Baltic trade routes, hauling cargo throughout Scandinavia and northern Europe. On occasion, ''Søren Larsen'' ventured as far afield as the United Kingdom and Iceland. In 1972, the ship was gutted by fire. She was laid up until 1978, when the hull was purchased by Square Sail Britain. ''Søren Larsen'' was re-decked with

iroko Iroko (also known as in Igbo language, '' in the Urhobo language of Southern Nigeria, and as odum in the Kwa languages of Ghana) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common n ...

, she was re-masted with Douglas fir, and re-rigged as a 19th-century-style brigantine. The new masts gave the ship a mast height of , and she was outfitted with of sail. The vessel's homeport was changed to

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

in the United Kingdom. Yasmina

On resuming operations in 1979, ''Søren Larsen'' saw extensive use for television and film. She appeared in BBC series ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, na ...

'', the film ''

The French Lieutenant's Woman ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. The plot explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the former governess and indep ...

'', '' In Search of the Mary Celeste'', and '' Shackleton''. During the 1982 filming of ''Shackleton'', ''Søren Larsen'' became the first sailing ship in 70 years to reach the Greenland Arctic Circle. Between 1982 and 1985, the ship was chartered by the Jubilee Sailing Trust: the success of the sailing program, which saw sail training provided to both able-bodied and disabled students, led Jubilee to order the construction of the sail training ship ''Lord Nelson''. ''Søren Larsen'' was chartered for the 1987-88 First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage, and served as flagship for the journey: departing from England in May 1987, and sailing via Tenerife,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, and Fremantle before arriving in Sydney on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

(26 January) 1988. In 1991, ''Søren Larsen'' sailed around Cape Horn. In late 2011, she was purchased by Sydney Harbour Tallships. ''Søren Larsen'' continues to sail in the South Pacific. In October 2013, ''Søren Larsen'' participated in the

International Fleet Review 2013 The International Fleet Review 2013 was a review that took place on the week 3 to 11 October 2013, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the entry of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbour, on 4 Octob ...

in Sydney, Australia.

Citations

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soren Larsen (ship) Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Australia Tall ships of the United Kingdom Tall ships of Denmark 1949 ships