Christian Radich
Christian Radich entering Muskegon Harbor during 1976 visit. Photo by Tom
VanOosterhout © Schoonerman
3 Masted Sailing Ship
Length 192 Feet
Beam 32
Feet
Hull
Steel
Diesel
450 hp,
Sail
11,700 sq. ft
Displacement 676 Tons
The Christian Radich is a
full-rigged ship built in 1937 in Sandefjord, Norway. .In 1939 "Christian
Radich" sailed to New York for the first time in connection with the World
Expedition.
The Christian Radich sailed back to Norway late
in 1939. The Navy requisitioned the ship and she was sailed to Horten where she
was to be used as lodgings. Shortly after the invasion on April 9th 1940, the
Germans took the ship, and during the war She served mainly as depot ship for
crew on German submarines. In 1944 she was brought to Germany to be used as
training ship for the Navy. She was docked in Flensburg in January 1945 and was
in dock during an air raid. The dock was hit and the ship keeled over. The hull
and deck suffered great injuries and she sank, only part of the rig sticking out
of the water. She was towed back to Norway and was rebuilt in the same
yard where she was built in 1937.
She resumed her schoolship operations in 1947 and
in 1956-1957 she went on a long trans-Atlantic cruise during which the
wide-screen Cinerama film "Windjammer" was shot aboard.
In 1976, the USA’s 200th anniversary and the
150th anniversary of the emigration to the USA were to be celebrated. And in
April, "Christian Radich" sailed from Stavanger. The trip to the
USA in 1976 was organised in co-operation with Norway’s information service in
New York, the Norwegian National Export Council, Op Sail, STA and the 200th
Anniversary Committee. After the celebration, "Christian Radich"
sailed a five-week cruise to the Great Lakes. The ship visited several ports including
Muskegon Michigan
For more information check these web
sites
Christian
Radich :: History
The
Christian Radich
