Training Ship Joseph Conrad

Built in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1882 by Burmeister & Wain, the iron-hulled training ship later known as Joseph Conrad first sailed as Georg Stage under the Danish flag, carrying 80 cadets at a time on six-month training cruises in the Baltic and North Seas. In 1905 she sank in a collision with the loss of 22 boys, but was raised and repaired, and over 50 years more than 4,000 cadets sailed on her. In 1934 Australian sailor Alan Villiers bought and renamed the ship after the Polish-born British novelist Joseph Conrad, then used her to teach seamanship on a two-year voyage around the world covering 58,000 miles with professional seamen and paying cadets. Financier G. Huntington Hartford bought her in 1936, converted her into a yacht with luxury accommodations, and after three years turned her over to the U.S. Maritime Commission. During World War II she trained U.S. Merchant Marine personnel in Florida, and in 1947 President Harry S. Truman signed an act of Congress giving her to Mystic Seaport, where she now serves as both an exhibit and a training ship for boys and girls ages 10 to 15 who receive instruction in sailing, seamanship, and maritime life.

Mystic, Connecticut · United States