''Solway Lass'' is a two- masted

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

. She was built in the Netherlands in 1902 and is currently operated out of Airlie Beach, Australia as a holiday sailor in the

Whitsunday Islands The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands ar ...

History

The ship, originally named ''Stina'', was built out of German steel with timber decking as a sail powered cargo vessel. In 1905, she was sold and renamed ''Adolf'', working in and around the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

seas. In 1915, she was seized as a prize of war by the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and used as a

Q-Ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchantman, armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the c ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, she worked as a coal, produce and stone carrying vessel between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and Scotland. She was sold to a Scottish firm in 1924 in the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

, where she was renamed ''Solway Lass''. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, Nazi Germany's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' seized ''Solway Lass'' and used her as a supply ship. She hit a mine and was badly damaged during the war; but she was repaired by the Germans to serve as a sail-powered icebreaker. After WWII, ''Solway Lass'' served in the South Pacific as a cargo vessel. A Sydney businessman purchased her in Fiji in 1983 and rebuilt her. She took part in the 1st Fleet re-enactment of the Tall Ships in

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

in 1988. ''Solway Lass'' was purchased in 1999 by Australian Tall Ship Cruises and sailed from Sydney to the Whitsunday Islands arriving in the Whitsundays in February 1999. After an extensive refurbishment ''Solway Lass'' went to sea as a live-aboard charter yacht providing three night cruises around the Whitsundays Islands. In April 2002, the owners and crew of Australian Tall Ship Cruises celebrated with a 100th birthday for ''Solway Lass'' in the Whitsundays.

References

External links

* {{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919) Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Australia Schooners of Australia 1902 ships Ships built in the Netherlands