A Ship of Salvation: Gerda III

Gerda III was built as a supply boat for lighthouses, but in World War II she took on much more important cargo. Owned by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, currently hosts and cares for the vessel and shares the story of its role in saving hundreds of Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Denmark.

Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.

The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River and include a recreated 19th-century coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship still in existence.

The Museum hosts 250,000 visitors annually.