The White Falcon - 21.08.1964, Side 3

Friday, August 21, 1964
WHITE FALCON

CLIPPING ALONG UNDER FULL CANVAS
Tangy salt air and the promise of adventure at sea are still
enough to lure young Germans away from their families to sail
the ocean as their ancestors have done for centuries.
This was evident in the faces of 166 teen-aged cadets aboard
the Gorch Pock, the three masted, 295-foot, West German Navy
training ship that arrived at HafnarfjorSur Friday evening and
left the following Wednesday night.
Skippered by Capt. Hans Engel, a veteran navigator and aided
by officers and crewmen totaling 63, the cadets are trained in the
art of seamanship, both in theory and in practice.
Classed as a sailing bark, the Gorch Fock is a vessel with her
two forward masts square-rigged and her rear mast rigged fore
and aft, she is an improved model of the Horst Vessel type. She
displaces 1,870 tons under full load and is driven by 21,141 square
feet of sail. She has an 800 horse-power iron genoa (diesel engine)
that has a top speed of 11 knots auxiliary and 17 knots under
full sail.
Having completed participation in a race that started June 6, from
Lisbon, Portugal, to Bermuda, the Gorch Fock rendezvoused with
seven other “great white ships” in a 1,600-mile voyage. First in
the fleet to reach Bermuda, the German bark placed third in the
race on corrected time. (Because of her great size and hull speed
capabilities relative to the other ships, Gorch Fock had to give a
handicap to other vessels in the race.)
Once in Bermuda, Gorch Fock sailed together with 22 windjam-
mers of 12 other nations in “Operation Sail”, a 6-day cruise to
New York which tied-in with the World’s Fair and was the largest
gathering of wind-driven ships in modern times.
In New York the square-riggers and gaff-riggers paraded up
the Narrows and anchored between 72nd street and the George
Washington Bridge. The stately procession was reviewed by Secre-
tary of the Navy Paul H. Nitze.
Each and every cadet must be an expert in marlinspike and boat
seamanship to operate the stately craft as their forefathers once did.
The ship is literally a school afloat, teaching and stressing seamanship
the hard way — by experience.
Aboard ship, the cadets are divided into two divisions, one living
aft, the other, forward. Each division has six groups of 14 men
each. Two groups live, eat and sleep in a compartment approximately
30 by 20 feet. Lockers around the bulkheads hold uniforms and all
personal belongings. Three tables are strapped to the overhead
during the day—other than at mealtime—and the men sleep in
hammocks, slung from steel bars overhead. The compartments look
deserted during the day, except for cadets scrubbing and polishing
them to immaculate perfection. ■
What probably seems to be acres of decks to be scrubbed continual-
ly every day, brightwork which must be polished to a mirror-finish
daily, to combat the tarnishing effects of sea-breezes is just as
extensive.
MAKING A LINE FAST
IMaval History Revisited
(ferman Windjammer icuerA
Anchor Offl Ua^narjjjcrdur
There are masts, spars and
bulkheads to be painted and
scrubbed, while weather-treatment
of the exposed standing and run-
ning lines to keep them from
deteriorating in the sun and
moist air is a never-ending battle.
At mealtimes, cadets send run-
ners to the galley from each table
for the food, then after the hasty
meals, they wash their own pots,
pans, silverware, plates and cups,
right on deck.
Only after the ship’s work is
done can they attend to their own
needs. They wash and hang up
to dry their own clothes, then fold
each article according to minute
specification to make them fit in
small lockers.

EVERYTHING SHIPSHAPE —
Adjusting items in his locker,
Navy Cadet Gerhard Rose readies
his locker for inspection.
STEADY AS SHE GOES
Then there are watches, and
more watches . . . and the days
speed by.
There are no niceties for the
cadets, each day is an arduous
routine and they never have a
spare minute. But their pride in
the beautiful ship and their ac-
complishments are unquenchable.
Said one weary cadet, “In the
daytime, it’s work, work, work and
you wish you were somewhere else,
but when day is done and you
look back over it, you wouldn’t
want to be anywhere else.”
Gorch Fock began her crossings
of the Atlantic by sailing from
her home port of Kiel, Germany.
She is to proceed to Dublin, Ire-
land and to Bergen, Norway, be-
fore arriving back to her West
German port on Sept. 1.
BRIGHTWORK AND UNI-
FORMS GET ATTENTION

AFTER-MEALTIME-DUTY