STS ''Sedov'' (), formerly ''Magdalene Vinnen II'' (1921–1936) and ''Kommodore Johnsen'' (–1948), is a four-masted steel

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

that for almost 80 years was the largest traditional

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

in operation. Originally built as a German cargo ship, ''Sedov'' is today a sail training vessel, training cadets from the universities of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

. She participates regularly in the big maritime international events as a privileged host and has also been a regular participant in

The Tall Ships' Races The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and co ...

History

''Magdalene Vinnen II''

''Sedov'', originally named ''Magdalene Vinnen II'', was launched at

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, Germany in 1921 by the

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (often just called Germaniawerft, "Germania shipyard") was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine in W ...

for the shipping company F. A. Vinnen & Co. of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, one of the largest German shipping companies at the beginning of the 20th century. The shipping company initially objected to have an engine installed in the ship, but the ship yard (with backing from a Government committee) successfully argued for an engine, making the ship the first sailing ship with auxiliary engine designed to modern principles. ''Magdalene Vinnen II'' was at the time the world’s largest auxiliary barque and exclusively used as a cargo ship with a crew that was partially made up of cadets. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 1 September 1921. Until her last voyage as ''Magdalene Vinnen II'' in 1936, the ship sailed to Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Reunion and the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

''Kommodore Johnsen''

On 9 August 1936, ''Magdalene Vinnen II'' was sold to

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

of Bremen and renamed ''Kommodore Johnsen''. The new owner modified her to a cargo-carrying training ship.

''Sedov''

She came under Russian state ownership after the surrender of Germany — on 20 December 1945, the British handed over the ship to the Soviet Union as war reparation. In the Soviet Union, she was converted into a sail training vessel of the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

. Renamed ''Sedov'' after the Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov who died during an investigation in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

in 1914, she was used as a training ship of the Navy from 1952 to 1957. From 1957 to 1966 she was used as an

oceanographic research ship Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. In 1966 when she was transferred to the reserve in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

, formally under the civil ownership of the Ministry of Fisheries. In 1981, ''Sedov'' reappeared after renovation. Based at the Baltic Division of Training Ships in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

she embarked cadets from schools of navigation of

and Murmansk. After the

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in 1991, she left Riga for Murmansk, transferred to the Murmansk naval school with the city of Murmansk ensuring her management and maintenance. On 20 June 2013, ''Sedov'' was in collision with the ''Kraweel'' '' Lisa von Lübeck'' off

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

, Netherlands. Both vessels put into

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

. ''Sedov'' has regularly been targeted by unpaid creditors of the Russian Federation such as

Nessim Gaon Nessim David Gaon (, 22 February 1922 – 10 May 2022) was a Sudan-born Swiss financier who founded a trading conglomerate known as Noga SA. Outside the business world, he was very prominent in Jewish affairs, acting as president of the World Sep ...

(of now defunct Swiss group NOGA, an anagram of Gaon) and also by French holders of defaulted Russian bonds; in 2002 ''Sedov'' was forced to precipitously and unexpectedly leave

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in the dead of night to avoid being served a writ by AFPER (French association of holders of Russian Empire bonds) the following morning. For over a year French holders of defaulted Russian bonds were warning they were going to reorganize and export their claim to Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, more friendly to private citizens than the French. In May 2008, in the wake of British-Russian tension, ''Sedov'' was instructed by Moscow not to dock as planned at

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

. The September 2008 visit to Falmouth, the starting point of FUNCHAL 500 race to

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, also seemed to be in jeopardy. In 2011 ''Sedov'' celebrated her 90th anniversary. In 2012 ''Sedov'' started her first voyage around the world of more than 13 months. The voyage ended on 20 July 2013 at

, Russia. In 2017, ''Sedov'' changed her home port to Kaliningrad and she is managed by the Kaliningrad State Technical University.

References

Sources