Dolphin was built and launched in October of 1943 at Ernst Burmester Schiffswerft KG at Swinemunde on the Baltic Sea in Northern Germany, and is one of 612 Kriegsfischkutters (KFK’s) built for the German Navy and Coastal Patrol during WWII. Dolphin was KFK hull number 259.
After launch in October of 1943, KFK 259 was assigned to the Naval High Command East, Harbor Protection Fleet stationed in the Kleiner Belt (Little Belt, one of the Danish channels of the Baltic Sea). In February of 1944, KFK 259 was given registration number Vs 425 and in September 1944 listed as in the Surveillance Force. At the end of the war, KFK 259 was stationed at Aalborg in the German Mine Sweeping Administration, Denmark Protection Division. In October of 1947 she was in the possession of the Bremerhaven Office of Military Government, United States, and apparently transferred to civilian ownership and registered under the name MAKRELE (mackerel) by new owner E. Mantau. KFK 259, now MAKRELE, was rebuilt and converted for civilian use at the Burmester Shipyards in Bremerhaven and in December of 1947 given registration number BX 461 in the name of H. Junge in Hornum, later transferred to A. O. Petersen also in Hornum. In 1953 the registered owner was W. Oetken in Oldenburg, and in 1955 owner Oetken moved the boat to Wilhelmshafen.

In 1960 Hans Hagelstein purchased Makrele and undertook an extensive reconstruction of the vessel, including conversion from a fishing trawler to a luxury sailing yacht. German registry records (as abstracted in Herwig Danner’s KFK book) show that from January through May of 1960, MAKRELE was at the Alfred Hagelstein Hatras Werk shipyards at Lübeck-Travemünde.

To refit the boat into the present tall staysail Schooner rig, in addition to the fitting of masts, standing and running rigging, approximately one meter was added to her draft in the form of a 30,000 pound cast iron ballast keel along with deadwood to make a full length deep keel. Below is a copy of the original sail and rigging plan drawn up circa 1960 by Kurt W. Schroter, yacht and boat designer, of Lubeck-Travemunde.

Quelle:http://www.schoonerdolphin.com/