''Southern Swan'' is a traditional Baltic trader, currently rigged as a three-masted

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...

. She is typical of coastal trading ships from the era 1840s to 1940s.

History

The ship was built in Frederikssund, Denmark in 1922.Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. 1 The hull was carvel-built from oak. She was rigged as a three-masted topsail

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 schoo ...

. The ship is in

length overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

, with a beam of and a draught of . Initially operating under the name ''Mathilde'', the ship was intended for trade voyages to and from Greenland. However, she spent most of her commercial career hauling grain to the Tuborg Brewery. During her career, she was renamed ''Pacific'' in 1926, ''Hans Christian Andersen'' in 1930, and ''Svanen'' (Swan) in 1938. In 1955, a 3-cylinder Alpha diesel engine was fitted to the vessel. In the late 1960s, she was sold to a Canadian couple, who spent the next decade refitting and rebuilding the ship. By the time she resumed operations in 1977, ''Our Svanen'' had received new masts and spars, and was re-rigged as a short-rigged

. At this point she had her registry changed from Dutch to British. In her new configuration, she had a mast height of , and a total sail area of .Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. 14 In 1978, the vessel sailed from England to the west coast of Canada. She spent the next six years operating out of

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

as a training ship for the

Royal Canadian Sea Cadets The Royal Canadian Sea Cadets (RCSC; french: links=no, Cadets de la Marine royale du Canada) is a Canadian national youth program sponsored by the Canadian Armed Forces and the civilian Navy League of Canada. Administered by the Canadian Forces, t ...

. The charter ended in 1986, and she was sold to C.D.A. Sail Pacific, who put ''Our Svanen'' on display at

Expo '86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

. During 1986, the Alpha engine was replaced by a Caterpillar 3406 diesel, which could propel the ship at . At the end of 1986, ''Our Svanen'' left Canada for England, to join the

First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage The First Fleet Reenactment Voyage (also known as the Second First Fleet) was a project to assemble a fleet of tall ships to sail from England to Australia in a historical reenactment of the First Fleet that colonised Australia in 1788. The reena ...

: a historical re-enactment for the

Australian Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

. She left England for Australia in May 1987, and sailed with the fleet via

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

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 b ...

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 Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

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. During the stay at Mauritius, ''Our Svanen'' was re-registered as a Canadian vessel. After the re-enactment, ''Our Svanen'' remained based in Sydney, with charters and cruises along the eastern Australian coast. In 2007, the ship was purchased by the Woods and Warne families, who formed the compan
Sydney Harbour Tall Ships
The vessel's name was changed to ''Southern Swan'' in 2010. The ship is used for charters, functions, and film work. In October 2013, ''Southern Swan'' participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

Citations

References

* *{{cite book, last=King , first=Jonathan , title=Australia's First Fleet: the voyage and the re-enactment, 1788/1988 , publisher=Robertsbridge Limited and Fairfax Magazines , location=North Sydney, NSW and Waterloo, NSW , date=1987 , isbn=0947178163 , oclc=23869501

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120630065401/http://www.maritimeworld.net/sn.asp?PageNumber=230 *http://www.sydneytallships.com.au/our-fleet.html *http://www.tallshipfestival2013.com/tallships.html Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Australia 1922 ships