Save the worlds oldest training ship

Joseph Conrad ex Georg Stage I is one of the world’s oldest sailing ships and the first sailing civil maritime school in the world. For many years, the ship has been a museum ship at Mystic Seaport, which has ensured its survival, but does not see the ship as part of the museum in the long term.

The ship was built in 1882 at B&W shipyard in Copenhagen. The construction was supported by several of Copenhagen’s prominent figures at the time, with C.F. Tietgen (1829-1901) at the forefront. The ship was the world’s first sailing maritime school, and the idea was that young boys who were going to sea should be trained in safety and seamanship.

All subsequent school ships around the world have been based on this ship and its experiences. In 1934, the ship was sold, and the maritime school continued on the current “Georg Stage II”, which is still an educational institution for young people seeking a career at sea.

After the sale in 1934, the ship sailed around the world under the command of one of the last great tall ship sailors, Allan Villiers, who also renamed the ship to “Joseph Conrad”. He sold it in 1936 to George Huntington Hartford II, one of the richest men in the world and the owner of “Paradise Island” in Bermuda.

The ship was now meant to sail the billionaire and his guests there. However, he soon grew tired of it, and the ship was transferred to the U.S. Navy, where it served as a training ship for deck crews for the navy and merchant fleet during World War II until 1947. The ship is one of very few vessels in the world that have been decorated for their war efforts. After the war, the ship was transferred to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, where it remains for the time being.

To ensure the ship’s future, an association has been established in Denmark with the aim of bringing the ship back to Denmark, finding a worthy purpose for it, and putting it into seaworthy condition so it can again sail the oceans of the world.

Become a member of the association:

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