4/5 Gordon Richard Hansen (Flash G. 6 months ago on Google
The
ship
was
built
at
Johann
C.
Tecklenborg
AG
in
Bremerhaven-Geestemünde
in
1914,
then
as
a
training
ship
for
the
German
merchant
fleet.
The
ship's
name
was
then
"Grossherzog
Friedrich
August",
named
after
Friedrich
August
von
Oldenburg,
the
last
reigning
Grand
Duke
of
Oldenburg.
During
the
First
World
War
the
ship
was
stationed
in
Germany
as
a
training
ship,
but
after
the
war
it
was
taken
by
Great
Britain
as
spoils
of
war.
In
1923,
former
minister
of
labor
and
then
director
of
Det
Bergenske
Dampskibsselskab,
Kristofer
Lehmkuhl,
urged
the
Norwegian
Shipping
Association
to
buy
the
ship
for
NOK
300,000.
The
ship
was
renamed
"Statsraad
Lehmkuhl"
for
Lehmkuhl's
work
for
the
school
ship
case,
as
well
as
his
work
in
Christian
Michelsen's
government
1905-07.
Bergens
Rederiforening
went
on
a
test
voyage
with
the
ship
for
five
months
in
1923
with
200
pupils
on
board,
and
after
this
the
ship
was
given
to
the
institution
Bergens
Skoleskib.
They
operated
the
ship
until
1966,
only
interrupted
by
World
War
II
when
the
ship
was
seized
by
the
Germans.
In
connection
with
this,
the
ship
was
renamed
SS
"Westwärts"
(=
Westover)
in
the
period
1940–45.
Again
she
was
a
spoil
of
war,
this
time
taken
on
Marineholmen
in
1940
and
sailed
to
Åstveitvågen,
which
was
named
Westwärtsbucht
(=
Westover
Bay)
in
honor
of
the
ship.
There
the
ship
served
as
the
headquarters
and
accommodation
ship
for
the
officers
of
the
Küstensicherungsverband
Westküste,
established
on
23
December
1940,[3]
which
gradually
developed
the
bay
as
a
naval
port
for
the
51.
Vorposten
Flottille.
In
1966,
Bergens
Skoleskib
was
no
longer
able
to
operate
the
ship,
despite
receiving
contributions
from
the
state.
The
number
of
pupils
decreased,
while
maintenance
costs
and
other
expenses
increased.
In
1967,
the
ship
was
in
danger
of
being
sold
abroad,
but
the
Bergen
shipowner
Hilmar
Reksten
intervened
and
bought
the
SS
"Statsraad
Lehmkuhl",
which
was
thus
still
allowed
to
dock
in
Bergen.
SS
"Statsraad
Lehmkuhl"
was
part
of
Reksten's
ship
fleet
until
1978,
and
he
ran
private
courses
on
the
ship,
but
he
also
had
to
cut
this
out
due
to
a
lack
of
state
support.
The
ship
was
in
storage
in
Bergen
harbor
from
1973
to
1978,
when
he
transferred
the
ship
to
a
private
foundation:
Stiftelsen
Statsraad
Lehmkuhl.
This
foundation
still
operates
the
ship.