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The Viking (since the 1950s better known under her Swedish name as Barken Viking "The Barque Viking"), a four-masted steel barque, was built in 1906 by Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was originally built to be used as a sail training ship for sailors for the rapidly growing Danish merchant fleet. At that time, seaworthiness and cargo capacity were given top priority. One day in July of 1909 captain Niels Clausen recorded in the ship's log a speed record, 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) while carrying a full cargo of wheat from Australia making a 24-hour-run of 372 seamiles. In 1929 she joined the Erikson-fleet of tall ships, but was about to be scrapped in the late 1940s when she was eventually saved by the Swedish government in 1950. She is reported to be the biggest sailing ship ever built in Scandinavia. Because of the low bridges that separate the tall ship from the open sea it's hard to believe she will sail the seas ever again.
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