Research

under construction

What we are looking for

– lost original parts (see list)
– lost original equipment (see list)
– photos / films / press reports / boat documents like logbooks especially from the years 1937 to 1954
– all information about the boat and her history


Procedure and details for research

To complete the story and to clarify the original construction and equipment condition, any information about the boat and its history is of interest.

This concerns the period from planning / keel laying in the winter of 1936 to launching on 3.6.1937 as well as the period of use until 1954. In this period, few conversions and changes were carried out.

We assume important information and documents in the estates of Ludwig Schlimbach, Henry Rasmussen / A&R shipyard employee 1937, Carl-Otto Bohnenkamp, Dr. I.J.Franklen-Evans / Frank Jensen and family Dr. Theodore Rose.

To this end we are trying to locate the descendants of the above persons and motivate them to support us. We are also looking for organizations that might have had something to do with the boat and the persons.

In continuing the research, there are a number of relevant questions with already identified starting points/sources. The research is divided into internet, local research at former boat sites, yacht history collections and persons/organisations by interview. On-site research would be useful in Auckland/NZ, Marquesas, Hawaii, Victoria / Vancouver Island Region, Port Townsend, Newport RI, New York, Balduinstein, Düsseldorf, Bremen/Lemwerder, Kiel, Hamburg.

Of particular importance is the contact with people who have been involved with the boat. As these are usually no longer alive, it is especially important to have contact with the descendants, family members and friends of:

  1. the owner/skipper(s)/crew, see under “History”
  2. the boat builders and shipyard workers at A&R 1936, 1937 and 1938
  3. the family Henry Rasmussen and Wilkens, Bremen
  4. the crew members of the transport steamers 1937 (HH-Lisbon, NY-Cuxhaven)
  5. Roosevelt family (former US President)
  6. family Herbert Stone (CCA)
  7. family of the photographer B. Ehrenreich (YACHT No. 39, 1937 )
  8. family Frank Jensen, Vancouver 1954-1960

and

  1. Archives of the NYYC and the Mystic Seaport, Newport (mysticseaport.org)
  2. archives of the NY Times and the Washington Post
  3. archives of sailing clubs / ports where the boat was moored
  4. the boat builders and shipyard workers around the Bent Jespersons shipyard 1979-1980 (jespersenboats.com)
  5. archives of The Daily Colonist newspaper, Victoria