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УПС "Седов"
"SEDOV" IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST TRADITIONAL TRAINING TALL SHIP
The vessel was built at Germaniawerft - a shipyard belonging to the Friedr. Krupp's company in Kiel in 1921. F.A. Vinnen &Co., her first owner, named the vessel after his wife Magdalene Vinnen. This four-masted steel auxiliary barque was built to carry bulk cargoes between ports of Europe and South America, Australia, South Eastern Asia and Oceania.
In 1936 Carl Vinnen sold this four-masted barque to a shipping company "The Norddeutsche Lloyd" (Bremen). The new shipowner equipped the vessel with cabins to accommodate 50 to 60 trainee officers and started to operate her as a cargo carrying training ship. The barque was given a new name - "Kommodore Johnson".
During the World War II (1939-1945) the barque was sailing in the Baltic Sea under the German Navy flag.
When the Second World War was over, the Soviet Union got the "Kommodore Johnson" as war reparation together with two other German tall ships, a four-masted barque "Padua" (nowadays - the "Kruzenshtern"), and the Gorch Fock (nowadays - the "Tovarishch"). The ship was renamed after the celebrated Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov. In 1946, the USSR Navy Flag was flown on the barque and she was used exclusively as a training ship.
In 1951, Petr Mitrofanov took over the command of the vessel as her Master and it was under his supervision that the ship was brought into seaworthy condition. So in 1952, the barque left the harbour for her first after-war voyage.
In 1966, the "Sedov" passed into the hands of the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries so that she could keep her training vessel status. In 1957, the "Sedov" took part in hydrographic research of the Atlantic Ocean while carrying cadets on board.
During the period of 1975 to 1981 the sail ship was under repairs in the Kronstadt shipyard. There were new cabins equipped to accommodate 164 more cadets, a banqueting hall with stage, a messing space, dining cabins, a gym-hall, a museum, a sauna. Apart from these leisure facilities there were also some training facilities fitted. The most up-to-date equipment for navigation control, observation and communication was installed.
From 1981, Alexey Perevozchikov, a sea captain, was appointed to Master of the training tall ship "Sedov". In 1991, the barque was handed over under jurisdiction of the Murmansk State Technical university and new generations of future navigating officers, ship engineers, radio operators enjoy training on her board. The "Sedov" tall training ship has been entered into the Guinnes Book of Records" as the biggest of remaining currently sailing vessels.
From the date of transferring her to the Ministry of Fisheries of the USSR (from 1966) the vessel made more than 65 training voyages and took part in international tall ships races for many times during which she entered over 200 times ports of Europe, America, Africa. She has covered over 300 thousand nautical miles.
Description
The "Sedov" carries a foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast, an aftermast. The whole of masting including mast columns, topmasts of all grades, yard, sail-boom, gaffs and a bowsprit are made of steel with stud fastening. The exceptions are made of wood masts' flag stuffs and masts' top acorns. The masting mass complete with rigging amounts to 210 t. The total height of the foremast (complete with the very mast column, topmast, fore royal yard, top gallant mast, and a flag stuff complete with top accorn) from the upper edge of the keel to the top accorn) comprises 62.6 m, the height of the first and the second mainmast amounts to 63.5 m, that of the aftermast is 54.7m.