Roald Amundsen arriving in Bay City 2010

''Roald Amundsen'' (often abbreviated ''Roald''; named in honor of Norwegian polar explorer

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

), originally named ''Vilm'', is a German steel-ship built on the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

River in 1952. Having worked in different areas, she was refitted in 1992 to 1993 as a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

(two-masted

square-rigged Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which a sailing vessel's primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars that are perpendicular (or square) to the median plane of the keel and masts of the vessel. These sp ...

sailing ship) and now serves as a

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on a ...

ship. During summer, she usually operates in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, and usually embarks for journeys to farther destinations for winter, including several trans-Atlantic crossings.

Description

''Roald Amundsen'' has a

length overall 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 is also ...

of , a length of hull of and a

waterline length A vessel's length at the waterline (abbreviated to L.W.L) is the length of a ship or boat at the level where it sits in the water (the ''waterline''). The LWL will be shorter than the length of the boat overall (''length overall'' or LOA) as mos ...

of . The vessel has a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a maximum

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . ''Roald''s masts reach a height of and are rigged with 18 sails with a total area of . The vessel has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 480 tons and has a tonnage of . ''Roald Amundsen'' has an 8-cylinder Buckau-Wolff

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

rated at named Emma. The vessel is equipped with two generators, one of , the other of . The ship can carry 180 tons of ballast. ''Roald Amundsen'' has crew of 17 with up to 31 trainees embarked.

Ship history

The

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

of the ship was built at the shipyard ''Roßlauer Werft'' on the Elbe River in

Roßlau Rosslau (in German orthography: Roßlau) was until 30 June 2007 a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, belonging to the district Anhalt-Zerbst. After a fusion with the town of Dessau it became eponym of the newly founded town of Dessau-Roßlau and a qua ...

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, in 1952. Originally intended for fishing as a deep sea fishing

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively ...

, plans were changed before the completion of the ship, and she was then instead built as a type of tanker. The vessel was completed at the shipyard '' Peene-Werft'' in

Wolgast Wolgast () is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast that can be accessed ...

, Germany, on the Baltic Sea. Named ''Vilm'', the ship was put to use for the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

(NVA), first as a tanker and supply vessel, operating out of

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is part of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) of Used ...

and crewed mainly by civilian seamen. Converted to a transporter for

bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (us ...

water in the 1970s on the Peene-Werft, ''Vilm'' then made regular trips to the bases of the National People's Army to take the ships' bilge water to a centralized treatment facility. This service was discontinued at the end of 1988. After not having been used for a year, ''Vilm'' was towed to

Neustadt in Holstein Neustadt in Holstein (; Holsatian: ''Niestadt in Holsteen'') is a town in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on the Bay of Lübeck 30 km northeast of Lübeck, and 50 km southeast of Kiel. History In World War ...

and there at the navy base used as

living quarters ''Living Quarters'' is a play written by Brian Friel and first performed in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, in 1977 in a production directed by Joe Dowling. Dramatis Personae and Original Cast : Sir (Clive Geraghty) The artificial narrat ...

. At the beginning of 1991, the ship was put up for sale by the Vebeg GmbH, a corporation to sell federal property. Detlev Löll and Hanns Temme purchased the ship at an auction and, with the help of some of the former crew, sailed the ship to

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

. In spring 1992, a complete overhaul began, in the course of which the ship received a new exterior

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

and was refitted as a brig; the rig includes five square sails at each mast and includes lifting yards for the upper-three yards (upper main topsail, topgallant and royal) at each mast, lowering the center of gravity of the ship when sails are furled. The overhaul was subsidized by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the

Bundesagentur für Arbeit The Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA for short, AA or Arbeitsagentur) ('Federal Employment Agency') is a German federal agency under the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs. Its headquarters are in Nuremberg. Its director is Andrea Na ...

and formed part of the

job creation program Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work dur ...

"Fridtjof Nansen" (led by the owner), which comprised the refitting of this ship as well as other sailing ships and . In 1993, the ship was put to its new use under the name of ''Roald Amundsen''. It was chartered by the newly founded sail training club ''LebenLernen auf Segelschiffen e.V.'' (short: LLaS; German: learning to live on sailing ships). After a short intermezzo with another sail-training club, ''Segelschiff Fritjof Nansen e.V.'', in 1993, ''Roald Amundsen'' has since been chartered by the LLaS and used for sail training. ''Roald Amundsen'' now operates all year around as a sail training vessel with voyages lasting between one and three weeks. Her home port is

Eckernförde Eckernförde (; , sometimes also ; , sometimes also ) is a city located in the of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a populat ...

, a harbour city in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

near

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 ...

in northern Germany. Summer months are spent with voyages on the Baltic Sea from Denmark to Baltic countries or the North Sea. Winters are spent in warmer regions. ''Roald Amundsen'' has repeatedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean, bound for South American ports in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

(1998), for

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...

s events in North America (2000, 2010), and for the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

(2001, 2011/12, 2012/13). Further destinations include

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

(1995), England and Ireland (2006), the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

(2006/07, 2007/08), the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

(1995), and others. During her North American voyage in 2010, ''Roald Amundsen'' visited the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and there met with the US brig ; the two brigs formed an unofficial friendship, and as of 2013, ''Roald Amundsen'' still flies a flag of ''Niagara'' at some occasions such as the Tall Ship Parade at

Kiel Week The Kiel Week () or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is considered to be one of the largest sailing events globally, and also the largest summer festivals in Northern Europe, ...

. Another friendship, based on their respective crews on board for Kiel Week, has been formed with the German wooden schooner ''

Amphitrite In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; ) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and her consort is Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Under the influence ...

''; both ships have established a tradition of berthing next to each other during the event. The ship has participated 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 ...

and is rated as a Class A tall ship by

Sail Training International Sail Training International (STI) is a non-profit international sail training organisation, with members in 29 countries. Its main aim is the "development and education of young people of all nations, cultures, and social backgrounds through the ex ...

.Sail Training International: Roald Amundsen
/ref>

References

External links

{{Commons category, IMO 8994489
Website of the brig ''Roald Amundsen''
Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Germany Brigs Training ships 1952 ships Ships built in Wolgast Ships of East Germany