The Sagres, an impressive three masted training ship, will arrive at Faro docks tomorrow to kick start the City’s annual day of civic celebrations.
The Sagres will be at Faro's Commercial Pier from September 5th to 8th in an historic first visit.
The visit has been sanctioned by the Ports Administration, the regional tourist board, the police and the Faro Naval Club with the Sagres being joined by the Algarve’s own, Boa Esperança, the replica caravel normally moored in Olhão.
Faro’s City Day of celebration is on the 7th of September and this year, the Sagres will act as a focus.
The Sagres is the most decorated ship in the Portuguese Navy and of its 80 years history, 56 have been in the service.
The three-master barque, originally named the Albert Leo Schlageter, was built at the Blohm & Voss shipyards, in Hamburg in 1937. Its height is 43.26 metres and length is 81.59 metres.
Sagres was the third of a series of four ships procured at the time by the German Navy.
The other three ships were the Gorch Fock (1933), Tovarish between 1952 and 2003, the Horst Wessel (1936) now Eagle, belonging to the United States Coast Guard and another ship, named Herbert Norkus (1939), that was never finished due to the outbreak of war.
After the end of World War II, the Horst Wessel and the Albert Leo Schlageter were kept by the United States of America as war prizes.
Despite the efforts of the US Commanding Officer at the Bremerhaven Naval Base, no US institution was willing to keep the Albert Leo Schlageter.
After three years, the ship was given to the Brazilian Navy as pay-off for the damages caused by the German Navy submarines to their fleet during the war.
In 1961 Portugal acquired the ship to replace the old training ship Sagres, also a former German sailing vessel launched in Bremerhaven (1896), with the name Rickmer Rickmers.
In 1916, the ship was named Flores and was used by the British for transport.
In 1924, her use as a merchant ship ended and she was incorporated in the Portuguese Navy as a training vessel, with the name Sagres.
Those making their way to Faro's commercial docks on the 5, 6 and 7th of September will have a chance to go aboard and soak up some maritime history.
The Council, in its inimitable way, sees this visit as a sign of recognition of its effort to re-embrace its maritime history and develop “new scientific, tourism and economic dynamics centered in its marine resources.”
Schedule of visits to the Sagres training vessel:
5th - visits from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
6th - visits from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
7th - visits from 10h00 to 12h00 and from 14h00 to 18h30.
