The Kruzenshtern sailboat was built in 1926 in Germany at the Wesermund city shipyards. At that time it was called "Padua", and was renamed in honor of the Russian first admiral only in 1946.
Its displacement is more than six thousand tons. In those days, he even made some unique flights, having reached Hamburg from Port Lincoln in just two months, and to the coast of Chile in three.
During the Second World War, those windjammers who were still in good condition were in ports. And only the “Kruzenshtern” - a sailboat, which, being estimated by many as “running”, was an auxiliary tug.
And in 1945, by decision of the Potsdam Conference, the world's largest ships of this class, “Commander Jonzen,” renamed “Sedov,” and “Padua” were transferred to the USSR. In January of the following year, Soviet flags were hoisted above them. And since then, the ship, which received the name of the great Russian sailor who brought up more than one generation, became part of the Baltic detachment.
The Kruzenshtern sailboat is still one of the largest sailing ships in the world: only the motor Sedov is larger than it. He is assigned to the training ships of the Ministry of Fisheries. Its home port is Riga.
When the Kruzenshtern sailing ship still sailed under the Soviet flag, it crossed the Atlantic several times, circled Europe, visiting many foreign ports. On such flights, he sailed more than one hundred eighty thousand miles.
In 1961, two eight-cylinder auxiliary diesel engines were installed on it, and since then the Kruzenshtern sailboat is no longer considered a typical windjammer. With a strong wind, its speed under sails reaches sixteen knots, while in calm with auxiliary engines turned on - up to nine.
The Kruzenshtern sailboat, the photo of which is presented in the article, regardless of age, is a fairly modern ship with sailing and motor control, as well as equipped with the latest electro-radio navigation equipment, radars and other devices. This is one of the few sailing barges that has been sailing for almost a hundred years. From 1973 to 1977, the Kruzenshtern sailboat sailed fifteen fairly long voyages.
It has a steel case, divided into compartments with seven waterproof bulkheads. It has two continuous wooden decks and one platform.
Of the rescue equipment, the boat has six boats designed for the simultaneous transport of two hundred and eighty-four people, as well as fifteen inflatable rafts, which accommodate 10 passengers. There are 770 tons of ballast on the sailboat, of which two hundred and seventy are in liquid form in the double bottoms.
Today, the sail-motor bark takes on board cadets from sailors. It annually hosts the practice of more than eight hundred young men who have chosen the maritime specialty. The last windjammer - the Kruzenshtern sailboat, which for many decades outlived its classmates - still continues to serve, tempering cadets on board, whom the Russian fleet considers its future.