Some ships sail a route. This one sailed through a century. The Sea Cloud, built in 1931 as the largest private sailing yacht in the world, is still sailing today, by hand, with her original mahogany panelling and a history no other ship can claim. She is the origin of the entire Sea Cloud fleet. ivent-sailing is your independent specialist operator for Sea Cloud voyages, at the cruise-line price.
What is the Sea Cloud?
The Sea Cloud is a four-masted barque launched on 25 April 1931 at the Germania shipyard in Kiel, at the time as the Hussar V, the largest private sailing yacht in the world. She was commissioned by the American businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Post. The ship is 110 metres long, is still sailed by hand today (the crew goes aloft into the yards) and still carries her original mahogany panelling and antique furniture from the 1930s. Since 1979 the Sea Cloud has sailed as a cruise ship and is the parent ship of the Hamburg line Sea Cloud Cruises, whose younger ships Sea Cloud II (2001) and Sea Cloud Spirit (2021) are modelled on her.
1931: a yacht as a gift
On 25 April 1931 the Hussar V was launched at the Germania shipyard in Kiel: a four-masted barque 110 metres long with a gilded eagle figurehead. She was commissioned by Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the General Foods empire, together with her then husband, the Wall Street banker Edward F. Hutton. At her launch she was the largest private sailing yacht in the world.
A yacht designed by hand
Marjorie Post designed the interior herself, having completed a course in naval engineering: mahogany panelling, marble bathrooms with gold fittings, antique furniture from European castles, every cabin a one-off. Anyone who travels on the Sea Cloud today sleeps in rooms whose furnishings have been at sea almost unchanged since the 1930s.
Seven lives: from embassy ship to weather ship
In 1935 Post married the later US ambassador Joseph E. Davies and renamed the ship Sea Cloud. When Davies became ambassador to the Soviet Union, the Sea Cloud served for about eighteen months as a floating US embassy residence on the Neva in Leningrad. In the Second World War Post handed the yacht over to the US Coast Guard and Navy in 1942, which used her until 1944 as a weather ship in the North Atlantic (WPG-284, IX-99), in navy grey, her masts shortened.
Decline and rescue
In 1955 Post sold the Sea Cloud to Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, who renamed her Angelita. After Trujillo’s assassination in 1961 she sailed under changing owners and her splendour faded. Only in 1978 did a group of Hamburg investors led by Hartmut Paschburg buy the yacht, sail her across the Atlantic and bring her into Hamburg on 15 November 1978. Over eight months the original substance was uncovered and restored.
1979: the second career begins
In 1979 the Sea Cloud set out on her first commercial cruise, the beginning of Sea Cloud Cruises. This second career has by now lasted longer than the first.
Why the Sea Cloud is unique
That a yacht of 1931 is still sailing almost a hundred years later, with her original panelling, preserved historic cabins and sails set by hand, makes her more than a ship: a floating monument and the aesthetic compass for everything Sea Cloud Cruises builds today.
The Sea Cloud fleet today
The historic Sea Cloud is currently in the shipyard for overhaul; whether and how she will sail again afterwards is open. Her younger sisters are bookable: the Sea Cloud II (2001, 94 guests) and the Sea Cloud Spirit (2021, 136 guests), both also sailed by hand. How Sea Cloud differs from Star Clippers is shown in our comparison of the two tall-ship fleets.
Voyages with the Sea Cloud fleet
The next departures with the Sea Cloud II and Sea Cloud Spirit from our live programme. We will give you all dates and up-to-date prices personally.
Sea Cloud Spirit · 16 nightsAcross the Atlantic aboard the Sea Cloud SpiritDetails →
Sea Cloud II · 17 nightsA Transatlantic Voyage to RememberDetails →
Sea Cloud Spirit · 7 nightsCaribbean Dreams and Sailing AdventuresDetails →
All current departures: Sea Cloud voyages.
Why book your Sea Cloud voyage with ivent-sailing
- No surcharge: booking at the cruise-line price, our advice costs you nothing extra.
- Personal advice from our own travel experience.
- Financial protection certificate under German law.
- Combined logistics from a single source: travel to and from the ship, hotels and connections arranged.
Would you like to experience the Sea Cloud for yourself? We will find the right voyage and the right date for you.
Frequently asked questions about the Sea Cloud
When was the Sea Cloud built?
On 25 April 1931 at the Germania shipyard in Kiel, at first under the name Hussar V.
Is the Sea Cloud still sailing?
The historic Sea Cloud is currently in the shipyard for overhaul. Her sister ships Sea Cloud II and Sea Cloud Spirit are bookable.
What makes the Sea Cloud unique?
She has been sailed by hand for almost a hundred years (the crew goes aloft into the yards) and still carries her original mahogany interior from 1931.
Who was Marjorie Merriweather Post?
The American businesswoman and General Foods heiress who had the ship built in 1931 and designed its interior herself.
