SAIL TRAINING SHIP "DAR POMORZA"

Polish Sail Training Ship off Newhaven

By Derek Longly

On one of my crossings from Newhaven to Dieppe in the 1970's, I think it was on the Senlac, myself and other passengers were fortunate to see a rare survivor in the form of the beautiful Polish sail training ship Dar Pomorza lying quite close to the harbour, as shown in the photos.

This elegant sailing vessel was built by Blohm and Voss at Hamburg, Germany in 1909. She was originally named Prinzess Eitel Friederich, was of 1,563 gross tons and had a length of 93 metres.

At the end of WW I she was seized by the British as war reparations but in 1929 was bought by the Polish community of Pomerania.  Amongst the improvements they carried out to her in 1930 was the installation of an auxiliary diesel engine.

She remarkably survived WW II by taking refuge in Sweden although I have no record of which port she reached in that country but most likely Stockholm in view of the relatively short distance between there and Poland. At the end of that conflict she was returned to Polish service in which she continued until her retirement in 1982.

She was then operated as a museum ship at the port of Gdynia.