Regina Maris (schooner)

History
malformed flag imageUnited States
Name: Regina (1908–1962)
Owner: Ocean Research & Education Society
Builder: J. Ring-Andersen, Svendborg, Denmark
Launched: 1908
Out of service: 1962–63, 1985–1998
Renamed: Regina Maris (1963)
Fate: Sank in harbor at Glen Cove, New York 1998
Status: Beached at Glen Cove, LI
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 210 tons
Length: 144 ft (42.5 m) over all
Beam: 24 ft 11 in (7.6 m)
Draft: 10 ft 10 in (3.3 m)
Propulsion: 350-hp Busch-Sulzer diesel, single screw
Sail plan:

3-mast Schooner 1908-1962; Barquentine 1963-1998;

5,920 sf of sail as barq. (550 m2)
Speed: 11 knots, combined sail & power
Complement: 9 prof. crew + 22 students (1980s)

The sailing ship Regina Maris was originally built as a three-masted topsail schooner in 1908. It was a 144-foot, wooden, completely fore-and-aft–rigged sailing ship with three masts. It was re-rigged in 1963 as a 148 foot barquentine. Regina Maris can reach a speed of up to 12 knots, especially on a half wind course or with a fresh back-stay breeze.

Description

Its original home port was Amsterdam. Its classification was SI Z1234+, EU 98/18. Its length overall was 48 meters. Its beam was 6.90 meters, with a draught of 2.80 meters. Its masthead height was 29.00 meters. Its displacement was 280 tons with a gross tonnage of 153 tons. It was rigged as a three-masted topsail schooner with a sail area of 720 m² across 11 sails.

Its main engine was an eight-cylinder Caterpillar 3408 that produced 365 hp. Its generators were a Mitsubishi 15 kW and a Lister Petter at 20 kW. Its bunker capacity for gas and oil was 12,000 liters. Its bunker capacity for fresh water was 16,000 liters.

Its speed under sail was 12 knots and under engine was 9 knots. Its passenger capacity was up to 80 passengers for short-term voyages and 36 passengers for overnight voyages. It had 2x2 and 8x4-passenger cabins.

History

Regina Maris was built to ply the Iceland-to-Baltic codfish trade. The original wooden hull was completed in 1908.[1] It was the 100th hull produced by the shipyard of J. Ring Anderson in Svendborg, Denmark. The ship was at one time believed to have been involved in the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II, but this was later disproven.[1][2]

Until 1963, the ship sailed under Norwegian colors and was called Regina, rigged as a three-masted topsail schooner. Following a severe fire in 1963, it was purchased by the Norwegian shipping magnates Siegfried and John Aage Wilson and converted to serve as the latter's private yacht. Rebuilt with a very tall three-masted barquentine rig for this purpose, the ship was renamed the Regina Maris ("Queen of the Sea").[1] Between 1963 and 1984, it was used in many television and movie productions, conducted two global circuits and underwent stints as a cruise ship, sail training facility, and marine mammal research vessel.

The vessel was saved from being scuttled by Captain Robert Val Rosenbaum and moved from Boston to Greenport, New York where he founded the Regina Maris Foundation and began a restoration process with 70 local volunteers in 1991. Hurricane Bob hit the East End of Long Island that same year in August and Captain Rosenbaum scuttled the vessel at her berth to save her from being destroyed by the storm as well as the nearby historic waterfront buildings. After the storm, the vessel was raised by Captain Rosenbaum and sold for one dollar to facilitate the restoration effort by a newly formed non for profit. During the next eight years the corporation raised money thru donations in Greenport to restore the vessel; however the funds were misappropriated and never found their way into the ship.

The vessel was towed to Glen Cove, New York in 1998 as part of a plan to revitalize the city's waterfront.[2] Plans to restore the ship were hampered by the discovery that it was not involved in rescuing Jewish refugees in World War II, as well as the economic impacts of the September 11 attacks. The ship was chronically leaky and sank at the dock in 2002. Efforts to raise it the following year damaged it beyond repair. The masts were preserved to be displayed on the nearby esplanade.[1]

Timeline

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Celebrated barquentine Regina Maris scrapped". Ocean Navigator (122). May–June 2002.
  2. 1 2 LeDuff, Charlie (10 February 1999). "Faded Glory on the Gold Coast; Glen Cove, Relic of the Gilded Age, Plans a Comeback". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2014.

Further reading

External links

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