Ships with Sails WW2

[tigercat]

I am just reading Alexander Fullerton's Submariner and it mentions Italian A/S Schooners

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=153307

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(1933)#Sister_ships

and of course there is the Gorch Foch and her sisters which have survived remarkable well one of them the Eagle ex Horst Wessel even playing a significant role in the Nantucket series of books by S. M. Stirling


I wondered what other ships with sails there were during WW2

there was the Levant Schooner Flotilla
and I have a memory somewhere of a BYMS and a Dog boat using sails

[oldsalt]

In the early 50's there was the hull of a sailing ship outboard of the pens Gibraltar.I think it was a German vessel but don't really know.

[whalecatcher]

Tigercat writes:

I wondered what other ships with sails there were during WW2

there was the Levant Schooner Flotilla
and I have a memory somewhere of a BYMS and a Dog boat using sails[/QUOTE]

I made six passages from Cape Town to Durban (1000 miles) in 1945 in 61' MFVs fitted with sails. This was described in a previous post July 27 2010, and I repeat part of the text here. These boats were were built in Cape Town by Louw and Halvorsen and intended for use as harbour service craft in the Far East Theatre. Shipping opportunities from the Cape, which is on the Atlantic side of South Africa, were relatively uncommon, so they made the passage from Cape Town to Durban, on the Indian Ocean side, on their own bottoms. Upon arrival they were loaded as deck-cargo and went to ports like Trincolmalee. We made eight knots with the engine and set the sails to steady the boats when at sea. Sheeted in tight they worked very effectively as air-brakes and ameliorated heavy rolling. I was completely frustrated in many efforts to make effective use of the canvas to increase their speed. This is trickier than it sounds, and really can only be managed if one can choose the course to suit the wind-conditions. In our case, the route and course was fixed. Once round Cape Aghulas, we headed East to Port Elizabeth and then North-East to Durban. In practice, an auxiliary powered vessel will be under sail or under power, but very rarely in a position to use both simultaneously. Heading into the wind nder power, it is best if the sails are taken in because they just add to wind-resistance, and the same thing is true in a calm, because the relative wind is dead ahead and of the same speed as that generated by the engine. If the true wind is on the quarter or from astern, it is sometimes possible to set the sails and make use of it. The vessel will be sailing close-hauled, sheets well in, even though the true wind is somewhat aft. The relative wind will be abeam or even from a point or so forward of the beam. A square-rigged vessel, which at best can sail about five points off the wind, would never be able to use her canvas along with an engine.

Some MFVs, built in the UK including bigger ones than those described above were sailed down to the Mediterranean, but by civilian rather than naval crews. Some HDMLs were fitted with sails for passage to the West Indies Station, but were unrigged upon arrival. The Belgian sail-traiining ship MERCATOR was used as a base ship at Freetown in 1944, but so far as I know used her engines to get there. I am sure other examples of sailing ships put to similar use in WW2 could be found.


Whalecatcher

[WGVSr]

I know the USN had a number of sailing vessels, mostly small and mostly in the Pacific, the most famous of which was LT Kemp Tolley's Lanakai. Most of the ships were classified in the IX classification.
Bill

[rickles23]

Hi,
The topsail schooner Alma Doepel served with the Australian Navy in WW2.
If this is of interest to you I will find the story in my research.
Regards