The
hull of the ship was built at the shipyard
Roßlauer Werft on the Elbe River in
Roßlau,
German Democratic Republic, in 1952. Originally intended for fishing as a deep sea fishing
lugger, 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, Germany, on the Baltic Sea. Named
Vilm, the ship was put to use for the
National People's Army (NVA), first as a tanker and supply vessel, operating out of
Peenemünde and crewed mainly by civilian seamen. Converted to a transporter for
bilge 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 and there at the navy base used as
living quarters. 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
Wolgast in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In spring 1992, a complete overhaul began, in the course of which the ship received a new exterior
keel 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 and formed part of the
job creation program "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, a harbour city in
Schleswig-Holstein near
Kiel 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 and
French Guiana (1998), for
tall ships events in North America (2000, 2010), and for the
Caribbean (2001, 2011/12, 2012/13). Further destinations include
Iceland (1995), England and Ireland (2006), the
Mediterranean (2006/07, 2007/08), the
Canary Islands (1995), and others. During her North American voyage in 2010,
Roald Amundsen visited the
Great Lakes 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. Another friendship, based on their respective crews on board for Kiel Week, has been formed with the German wooden schooner
Amphitrite; both ships have established a tradition of berthing next to each other during the event. The ship has participated in the
Tall Ships' Races and is rated as a Class A tall ship by
Sail Training International. == References ==