Horst Wessel
SSS "Horst Wessel" served as the flagship of the "Kriegsmarine" sail training fleet, which consisted of "Gorch Fock", , and "Horst Wessel". ( was also built in 1937 for the Romanian Navy, and work began on a fifth ship called "Herbert Norkus", but was stopped with the outbreak of war.) "Horst Wessel" was commanded by Captain August Thiele, a previous Captain of "Gorch Fock", and it was homeported in Kiel. In the three years before World War II, she undertook numerous training cruises in the North Atlantic waters, sailing with trainee groups consisting of both future officers and future petty officers. On 21 August 1938, Adolf Hitler visited the ship and sailed for approximately one hour before departing. Later that year, "Horst Wessel" and "Albert Leo Schlageter" undertook a four-month voyage to the Caribbean and visited St. Thomas and Venezuela. Along the way, they caught numerous sharks and turtles at sea and kept ducks enclosed on deck to provide fresh eggs.