Today's sailing ship Europa was launched in 1911 as a non-propulsion lightship under the name Senator Brockes in the Hamburg shipyard HC Stülcken Sohn . As lightship Elbe 4 and pilot station on the Elbe as well as Elbe 3 and Elbe 4 , this ship was in use almost without interruption until 1977. From around 1975 one began to replace the costly and labor-intensive lightships with large barrels and automatic stations on the sea waterways .
Almost all of the old lightships had sailing ship hulls, as these lay particularly well in the often rough seas of their fixed anchorages. A buyer from Hamburg bought the ship at the scrap price and began converting it into a real sailing ship in 1986, but was overwhelmed. In 1987 the Dutchman Harry Smit bought the hull and invested millions in the conversion of the ship. By 1994, a three-masted sailing ship with a barracks was built from it . Mahogany cladding recovered from old ships was built into the ship's interior and a lot of brass was traditionally used.
commitment
The Europa is used worldwide as a charter ship. She has circled the globe several times and also sailed around Cape Horn .
literature
Herbert H. Böhm: Sturmerprobt: 100 important sailing ships Gondrom Verlag GmbH, Bindlach 2004, ISBN 3-8112-2262-7