Feuerland (ship)

Feuerland under full sail (c. 1927)
History
Hamburg
NameFeuerland
NamesakeTierra del Fuego
OwnerGunther Pluschow
Port of registryHamburg
BuilderKrämer, Vagt and Beckmann
Completed1927
Maiden voyage1927
Refit1946
StanleyUnited Kingdom
NamePenelope
Acquired1929
Commissioned1929
Decommissioned2006
StanleyArgentina
NameARA Penelope
Commissioned7 May 1982
Decommissioned14 June 1982
Notestaken over by the Argentine Navy
BüsumGermany
NameFeuerland
NamesakeTierra del Fuego
Commissioned2006
General characteristics
Typeketch
Tonnage55 GRT
Length16.2 m (53 ft)
Beam4.88 m (16.0 ft)
Depth1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
Decks1
Installed power220 NHP
Speed5 knots (9.3 km/h)
Complement(as ARA Penelope): 7

Feuerland (from 1929 to 2006 Penelope, in 1982 ARA Penelope while in Argentine service) is a two-masted ketch built in 1927 at the Krämer, Vagt and Beckmann shipyard in Büsum, Germany. It was commissioned by the German naval officer and aviator Gunther Plüschow. The motor sailboat was specially built to explore Patagonia. In 1929 Feuerland was sold to a landowner in the Falkland Islands and was renamed Penelope. After more than fifty years of inter island service, the vessel was seized by the Argentine Navy and used as an auxiliary transport ship during the Falklands War. In 2006 Penelope became once again Feuerland when acquired by German skipper Bernd Buchner and shipped back to Germany, where she was declared a national monument. Feuerland is set for rebuilding as a museum ship as of 2025.