af Chapman

Type

Full-Rigged Ship

Period

19th Century

Nation

Sweden

Overview: af Chapman is a steel-hulled full-rigged sailing ship, not technically a bark — she carries square sails on all three masts rather than the fore-and-aft mizzen that defines a barque rig. Built in 1888 in England, she later became a Swedish Navy training ship and is now a well-known floating youth hostel moored at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. Specifications: The ship is a three-masted, steel, full-rigged vessel of roughly 1,425 gross registered tons, about 88.4 m (290 ft) overall length, 11.4 m (37 ft) beam, and 5.6 m (18 ft) draught. Her sail plan is classic full-rigged-ship (square sails on fore, main, and mizzen masts), making her a good subject for modelers interested in late-19th-century iron/steel merchant sailing ships. Note that the constrained "ship type" field in this database has no dedicated "Full-Rigged Ship" category, so "Other" is used here with the specific rig noted. Service History: Launched in February 1888 at the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company as Dunboyne, she originally sailed as a merchant ship for Dublin owners, making voyages between Europe, Australia, and the west coast of North America, including an early run carrying rail cargo to Portland, Oregon. She arrived in Sweden in 1915 and was renamed G.D. Kennedy, then was purchased by the Swedish Navy in 1923 and renamed af Chapman after naval architect and Vice Admiral Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, serving as a naval training ship until 1947. Notable Facts: Since 1947 the ship has been permanently moored at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm and operated as a popular youth hostel by the Swedish Tourist Association, with much of her original ironwork, masts, and portholes retained. She is sometimes loosely called a "barque" in casual references, but naval sources consistently classify her rig as full-rigged (square-rigged on all three masts), which modelers should note when selecting a rigging plan. The ship underwent a comprehensive restoration in 2008 and has periodically been moved to drydock at Beckholmen for hull maintenance while continuing hostel operations.