A painting of the training ship Kobenhavn by Frank Henry Mason, 1943

This painting in oils on canvas depicts the British-built, but Danish-operated, cadet training ship the Kobenhavn. The vessel is shown in full sail in calm, summer conditions. The ship was built at the Ramage and Ferguson yard in Leith for the East Asiatic Company in Denmark. When launched in 1921, she was known as the Big Dane due to her being the largest sailing ship afloat at that time. She took around 8 years to build, with five masts, 56,000 sq. ft of sails and an auxiliary motor with on-board wireless transmission capability. Designed as a training ship for cadet sailors, she was classified as class 100 A1 by Lloyds, the highest available classification at this time. In 1925 she suffered a fire and had to put in to Plymouth for repair. In 1928 she was lost off of the Great Australian Bight. To this day very little has been discovered about the vessel’s demise as tragically nobody survived the wreck.

Estimate:£4,400

View all items fromWick AntiquesorArts & Graphics