Gorch Fock

Gorch Fock is a tall ship of the German Navy, launched in 1958 as a replacement for the original Gorch Fock (1933) launched in 1933 which was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union after World War II, renamed Tovarishch, and returned to Germany in 2003. Both ships are named in honour of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916. The modern-day Gorch Fock was launched in 1958 as a delayed sister ship to five ships built in the 1930s, and has since then undertaken 146 cruises (as of October 2006), including one tour around the world in 1988. She is sometimes referred to (unofficially) as Gorch Fock II to distinguish her from her older sister ship. Gorch Fock is assigned to the Naval Academy at Flensburg-Mürwik.