Amorina was built as a lightship in 1934 for the Swedish maritime authorities then designated as lightship 33. It was bought by private parties in 1979, converted to have masts installed and competed in the 1983 Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race.

Design and construction

The vessel was designed as a lightvessel for use by Swedish maritime authorities.Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. viii ''Lightship 33'' was constructed in 1934 at the

Götaverken Götaverken was a shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. During the 1930s it was the world's biggest shipyard by launched gross registered tonnage. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989. History The company w ...

shipyard in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. The hull was built to Lloyds' Ice Class A1, with an icebreaker bow and -thick riveted hull plates.

Operational history

From completion until the late 1960s, ''Lightship 33'' was usually moored on station in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

: either at Sydostbrotten or Nordströmsgrund. During the 1960s, the lightships were replaced by the prefabricated Kasun Light Houses. ''Lightship 33'' was laid up in 1970. A group of Swedish sailors, who had lost their vessel in the Mediterranean, formed the company Amorina Cruises, and purchased the lightvessel in 1979. Renamed ''Amorina'', the vessel was refitted into a

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 r ...

at Aveiro, Portugal. Three steel masts were installed and the wheelhouse was relocated, while increased accommodation and a saloon were fitted belowdecks. After refitting, the vessel was in length, with a beam of , and a draught of .Clarke & Iggulden, ''Sailing Home'', p. 8 She had a mast height of , and a total sail area of . Auxiliary propulsion was provided by a Deutch diesel, with a service speed of . The conversion was completed in 1983, and ''Amorina'' participated in that year's Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race. The vessel was based in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

during 1985 and early 1986. In March, ''Amorina'' sailed to England and joined 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 reen ...

: 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. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

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 incl ...

, 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 Ja ...

(26 January) 1988.King, ''The First Fleet''. p. 89-90

Citations

References

* * {{coord missing, Sweden 1934 ships Lightships Tall ships of Sweden Lighthouses in Sweden