Famed Lightship Turned Museum Collides with Sailboat off Germany
Germany’s sea rescue teams responded overnight on June 7 to reports that a historic lightship now operating as a museum ship and an 11.5-meter (nearly 38-foot) sailboat collided approximately one nautical mile off the port of Heligoland, Germany. No one was injured, but the sailboat was demasted and badly damaged in the collision.
The rescue boats Verena and Hermann Marwede, along with the federal government’s vessel Neuwerk were each dispatched to the scene of the collision. Paramedics from the Neuwerk boarded the sailboat and confirmed a Dutch man and woman aboard were uninjured. An engineer from the Hermann Marwede also went aboard to aid in securing the damaged sailboat. The Verena took the sailboat in tow.
Officials said it was unclear how the two vessels collided. The sailboat was under full sail at the time of the incident, while the lightship Bürgermeister O'Swald was underway returning from several days on display and hosting open ship visits in Wyk auf Föhr, Germany.
Elbe 1 seen in 2021 (Peter Kersten photo - CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Bürgermeister O'Swald, commonly known as Elbe 1 because of her operating position or Red Lady for her livery, holds the title of the largest lightship ever built. She measures over 57 meters (187 feet) in length, and when in service, had a crew of 27 people. Her light stands 15 meters (49 feet) above the waterline.
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Work started on the ship in 1941 at the Jos. L. Meyer Shipyard in Papenburg, but she was delayed and only commissioned in 1948. For the next 40 years, she was the lightship helping to guide vessels traveling on the Elbe, located approximately 15 miles off the busy German seaport of Cuxhaven. During her long career, reports indicate she was struck more than 50 times by vessels sailing on the Elbe. She was retired in 1988, the last lightship to hold the position on the Elbe. Since 1990, she has been a private museum ship.
There were no reports of damage to the lightship. She returned to her berth in Cuxhaven. The Helgoland water police are investigating the cause of the collision.