Kruzenshtern

Factsheet

• Length: 114.50 m
• Beam: 13.90 m
• Draught: 6.90 m
• Hull: Steel
• Sail area: 3,400 m2
• Year of construction: 1926
• Homeport: Kaliningrad
• Flag: Russia

At 114 metres in length, this Russian bark is the world’s largest sailing ship still in operation with the exception of the Sedov. The Kruzenshtern was commissioned to be built in 1926 by the renowned shipbuilder F. Laeisz from Hamburg. His ships sailed mostly along the west coast of South America and transported saltpetre, among other goods, back to Europe. The Kruzenshtern was named Padua until 1946 and comprised part of the famous "Flying P cargo line". Four other four-masted barks also belonged to this line: Pommern, Pamir, Parma, Passat and Peking. Like all other ships in the Flying P-line, the Padua was built for fast sailing. The skippers of these ships were therefore instructed to seek out storms so that they could sail as fast as possible. In 1938-1939, the Padua made its last cargo shipment. It set off from Bremen, sailing via Chile to pick up saltpetre and on to Australia for grain and wheat.

In 1946, the Padua was handed over in Sinnemünde to the Soviets, who renamed the ship for the Russian navigator and oceanographer Adam Johann Ritter von Kruzenshtern (1770-1846). This bark’s home port is still St. Petersburg, Von Kruzenshtern’s former residence.

Of the six Flying P-line ships, three are now used as museum boats around the world (Pommern in Mariënhamn, Finland; Passat in Travemunde, Germany; and Peking in New York City). This makes it so exceptional that the Kruzenshtern is still in operation, thanks in part to subsidies from the German government. She is currently used as a training ship for cadets aspiring to careers in the professional fisheries industry.