Gorch Fock (1933)

Gorch Fock in Stralsund, 2019
History
Germany
NameGorch Fock
NamesakeGorch Fock
BuilderBlohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down2 December 1932
Launched3 May 1933
Commissioned26 June 1933
FateScuttled, 1 May 1945
Soviet Union
NameTovarishch
Acquiredby salvage, 1947
In service1951
Out of service1993
FatePassed to Ukraine, 1993
Ukraine
NameTovarysh
OwnerMinistry of Education (Ukraine)
Acquired1993
FateSold to Germany in 2003
Germany
NameGorch Fock
Acquired2003
StatusMuseum ship
General characteristics
Class and typenone
TypeBarque
Displacement1,510 long tons (1,534 t) full load
Length82.1 m (269 ft)
Beam12 m (39 ft)
Height41.3 m (135 ft) at main mast
Draught5.2 m (17 ft)
Propulsion550 hp (410 kW) auxiliary engine
Sail planBarque, 1,753 m2 (18,870 sq ft) sail area

Gorch Fock I (ex Tovarishch, ex Gorch Fock) is a German three-mast barque, the first of a series built as school ships for the German Reichsmarine in 1933.

After World War II she was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union and renamed Tovarishch. In the 1990s she spent a short period under the Ukrainian flag and a prolonged stay in British ports due to lack of funds for necessary repairs.

After being acquired by sponsors, she sailed to her original home port of Stralsund where her original name of Gorch Fock was restored on 29 November 2003. She now serves as a museum ship, and extensive repairs were carried out in 2008.

In 1958 the Federal German government built a replacement training ship which is still in service, also named Gorch Fock.