FAMOUS VESSEL LOST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22215, 16 September 1935, Page 6

FAMOUS VESSEL LOST

VON LUCKNER'S SCHOONER BURNED IN GERMAN PORT It is reported from Bremerhaven, Germany, that the Mopelia, Count Felix von Luckner's four-masted schooner, formerly known as the Vaterland, has been destroyed by fire in Kaiser Harbour. The fire, believed to have been caused by a short circuit in the engine room, spread so rapidly that only a few objects of the valuable collection Count von Luckner made during his numerous trips could be saved. Countess von Luckner and her sister, as well as Captain Lauterbach and his wife, were aboard, together with nine members of the crew, when the fire started. Although two fireboats rushed to the scene and flooded the entire ship, the damage was so great that the vessel was considered to be beyond repair. The ■ Mopelia was not insured, so the entire loss falls on Count von Luckner, who was her owner. Her original cost was £IOO,OOO, and she had just been overhauled for new voyages.

Never having lost tho Jove for adventure and for the sea which carried him through some of the mdpt daring sea exploits during the World War, Count Felix von Luckner, better known as the "Sea Devil," has been living most of the time aboard his yacht, tho Mopelia, during recent years. The Mopelia was known as the Vaterland until 1929. The count chose to rec-hristen the boat in memory of one of his sea adventures. Mopelia is the name of an island of the Tahiti group on which his famous ship, the Seeadler, or Sea Eagle, was wrecked. Aboard the Mopelia the count made many long voyages, including several to the United States. While visiting New York tho count and his wife lived aboard tho ship, which had been fitted out as a real homo. Although ho won his greatest fame as a ravager of Allied shipping during the war, Count von Luckner was an advocate of peace. His visits to the United States were in the nature of goodwill lecture tours, during which he spoke before many men's clubs and organisations of youth to advance the cause of universal brotherhood.