The “Star of India,” a large ship with three masts, a black and red hull, and white trim, holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest active sailing ship.
It resides in San Diego Bay at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
According to Raymond Ashley, the president and CEO of the museum, the Star of India was launched in the Isle of Man in 1863. It was originally named “Euterpe” after the Greek goddess of music and poetry. The ship arrived in San Diego in 1927, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that it began to be renovated so it could one day carry passengers again.
“She’s not only a national historic landmark and a state historic landmark,” said Ashley. “She was recognized by the World Ship Trust several years ago as an irreplaceable treasure of humanity.”
The ship was initially used as a cargo carrier between Europe and India. After that, it was used to carry up to 400 immigrants at a time from Europe to New Zealand and Australia, and return with cargo. The ship has circumnavigated the world 21 times.
It was registered as a Hawaiian vessel in 1897.
“She’s also the last ship sailing which once flew the flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii,” said Ashley, adding that it’s the pride of Hawaiians.
In 1901, a fishing conglomerate called the Alaska Packers Association purchased the ship. They took old sailing ships and made trips from the Alameda or Oakland Estuary to the Gulf of Alaska every year to fish for salmon, said Ashley. The salmon were canned and brought back to San Francisco and were then distributed to the rest of the country.
The Alaska Packers Association gave the ship the name Star of India.
“All of the ships in the fleet [were] ‘star of’ something,” said Ashley.
The ship made 22 voyages to Alaska in 21 years before it was retired in 1923. In 1926, the Zoological Society of San Diego bought the Star of India so it could be a centerpiece for an aquarium and museum. However, that plan was cancelled due to the Great Depression and World War II.
In the 1950s, renovation of the ship began, and it was ready to sail again in 1976.
“The Star of India went sailing again after more than 50 years in 1976, and 300,000 people witnessed it in person around the bay when she sailed in. So we have sailed her ... about 30 times since then,” said Ashley.
The ship was restored to be as seaworthy as possible while complying with modern seafare standards. Museum curators and volunteers have preserved it to this day.
“They’re constantly working on the ship. They’re always aloft. So every single square inch of that ship has somebody’s eyes on it very frequently,” he said.
About a year before a planned sail, the museum will offer a class for up to 200 people who have always wanted to work on an antique ship, to train and learn how to sail this type of vessel. After that, they start formal training for a trip in November.
“We set sails at the dock, we practice maneuvers at the dock and so forth, so everything we do out at sea, we’ve done many times dockside before we do it,” said Ashley. “That ship is exercised thoroughly before we ever get her underway.”
The ship does not have an engine, so the crew has to tow it about five miles out to have enough wind to spend the day sailing.
The last time the ship set sail was in November 2023 for its 160th birthday. Because it takes a lot of training and preparation to set sail, Ashley said it now makes a trip at most once every five years around the bay.
The Star of India only allows invited guests on its sailing trips and is not open to the general public. However, the museum has other ships that are available for public sailing, including the official tall ship of the state, the “Californian”; a 1542 European galleon replica built in San Diego by staff and volunteers called the “San Salvador”; and a vessel called the “Bill of Rights.”
Usually when the Star of India sails, the Californian and San Salvador go with it.
“On Saturday of a sailing cycle, we’re all just out having fun sailing ships,” said Ashley. “But on the Sunday after we do that, we perform a service on the Star of India for all of our members who passed away since the last time we sailed the ship, and then we sail the ship along with our whole fleet down the bay, in formation, with bagpipes playing. It’s just an awesome spectacle.”
