The Kruzenshtern
The Kruzenshtern or Krusenstern is a four masted barque and tall ship that was built in 1926 at Geestemünde in Bremerhaven, Germany as the Padua (named after the Italian city).
On January 12, 1946 she was surrendered to the USSR and integrated into the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Navy. She was moored in Kronstadt harbour until 1961 where she underwent major repairs and a refit for her missions for the Hydrographic Department of the Soviet Navy.
From 1961 to 1965 she undertook many hydrographic and oceanographical surveys for the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, and Mediterranean, and was used as a training vessel for naval cadets. In 1965 she was transferred to the USSR Ministry of Fisheries in Riga to be used as a schoolship for future fishery officers.
From 1968–72 a major modernisation took place, installing her current set of engines and applying her current hull paint – black with a wide white stripe with black rectangles intended to give the illusion of gunports.
Kruzenshtern led the international procession of tall ships into New York Harbor for Operation Sail on Sunday, July 4, 1976.
In January 1981 she was transferred to the "Estonian Fisheries Industry" at Tallinn and in 1991 she became part of the "State Baltic Academy of the Fisheries" fleet with her new home port in Kaliningrad.
The Kruzenshtern takes part in many international regattas. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union funding became a problem, so passengers are carried for that purpose. In 1995–96 she circumnavigated the World in the trail of her namesake. She again sailed around the World in 2005–06 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Krustenstern's circumnavigation.