The vessel was constructed by Søren Larsen and Sons at their shipyard in Nykøbing Mors.[1] She is 42.7 metres (140 ft) in length overall, with a beam of 7.8 metres (26 ft), and a draught of 3.2 metres (10 ft).[2] The hull was carvel-built primarily from oak and beech.[1] She was originally galeas-rigged, with an auxiliary engine.[1] The 240 horsepower (180 kW) B&W Alpha diesel could propel the ship at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph).[2] The ship's single hold was accessible through three hatches.[1]Søren Larsen was named after her builder, and was one of the last ships produced by the shipyard.[1]
The ship was employed on the Baltic trade routes, hauling cargo throughout Scandinavia and northern Europe.[1] On occasion, Søren Larsen ventured as far afield as the United Kingdom and Iceland.[1] In 1972, the ship was gutted by fire.[1] She was laid up until 1978, when the hull was purchased by Square Sail Britain.[1]Søren Larsen was re-decked with iroko, she was re-masted with Douglas fir, and re-rigged as a 19th-century-style brigantine.[1] The new masts gave the ship a mast height of 30.5 metres (100 ft), and she was outfitted with 627 square metres (6,750 sq ft) of sail.[2] The vessel's homeport was changed to Colchester in the United Kingdom.[2]
Søren Larsen, painted by the Belgian painter Yasmina
On resuming operations in 1979, Søren Larsen saw extensive use for television and film.[1] She appeared in BBC series The Onedin Line, the film The French Lieutenant's Woman, In Search of the Mary Celeste, and Shackleton.[1] During the 1982 filming of Shackleton, Søren Larsen became the first sailing ship in 70 years to reach the Greenland Arctic Circle.[1] Between 1982 and 1985, the ship was chartered by the Jubilee Sailing Trust: the success of the sailing program, which saw sail training provided to both able-bodied and disabled students, led Jubilee to order the construction of the sail training ship Lord Nelson.[1]Søren Larsen was chartered for the 1987-88 First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage, and served as flagship for the journey: departing from England in May 1987, and sailing via Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Mauritius, and Fremantle before arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1988.[1][3]
Clarke, Malcolm; Iggulden, David (1988). Sailing Home: a pictorial record of the First Fleet Re-enactment voyage. North Ryde, NSW: Angus and Robertson. ISBN0207159653. OCLC21041747.
King, Jonathan (1987). Australia's First Fleet: the voyage and the re-enactment, 1788/1988. North Sydney, NSW and Waterloo, NSW: Robertsbridge Limited and Fairfax Magazines. ISBN0947178163. OCLC23869501.
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