The Krupp-Germania shipyard in Kiel built sailing ships from 1921 to 1931. Two big four-masted barques were built during this period : The Hussar was launched as a luxury yacht in 1931 and is sailing under the name of Sea Cloud as a cruise vessel today. The second ship was the Magdalene Vinnen, which went on its maiden journey as a wherry (cargo sailing ship) in 1921 and is under sail as a training vessel for the Russian Ministry of Fisheries under the name of Sedov today. The Magdalene Vinnen was originally built for the Bremen shipping company Vinnen F.A.&Co. purely as a sailing ship, but upon the advice of the shipyard was also equipped with an auxiliary engine. This cargo sailing ship transported i.a. saltpetre from Chile and Argentina and later also grain from Australia to Europe (eg. Sydney to the Isle of Wight within 92 days). The Magdalene Vinnen proved to be a fast sailing ship, which thanks to its engine was not second to any motor cargo vessel in terms of economic efficiency. In 1936, the North German Lloyd shipping company of Bremen was looking for a training ship and purchased the Magdalene Vinnen, which was already at that time considered to be the world's biggest sailing ship. Lloyd rebuilt the ship to a cargo carrying training ship, as it had meanwhile become uneconomical as a strict cargo sailing ship. Renamed the Kommodore Johnson (named after the skipper of the Lloyd shipping company's very fast steamer, the Bremen), the ship now exclusively transported grain from Argentina and Australia to Europe. The Kommodore Johnson covered a total of 97,469 nautical miles for the Lloyd shipping company. Then, during the Second World War, the Kommodore Johnson sailed the Baltic Sea purely as a training ship. Following World War II, this ship, as well as the Padua (Krusenstern today) had to be handed over to the U.S.S.R. as part of war reparations payments. The Soviets baptised the four-masted barque the Sedov, after the Russian polar explorer Georgij J. Sedov (1877 to 1904) and utilised it as an oceanographic research ship until 1966. It was not until 1982 that the sailing ship turned up in European waters again. It had been rebuilt strictly as a training ship with accommodation for 240 men, class rooms, a large festive hall, a small museum and a bar.

It sails under the commission of the Russian Ministry of Fisheries and currently has a permanent crew of 70 people, 164 cadets as well as six teachers on board. Until the year 2000, the Sedov was the world's largest travelling sailing ship and a welcome guest at windjammer regattas. Since 1989, Western trainees also have the opportunity of taking part in sailing turns. The Sedov received a bow ornament in 1999 in accordance with the lost originals. It includes Cyrillic letters which represent the initials of the Murmansk fishery co-operative, as well as its coat of arms.

Die Stortemelk wurde 1961 als Nordseefischer auf Kiel gelegt und 1992 zu einem Segelschiff umgebaut. Unter Aufsicht der strengen holländischen Schiffahrtsinspektion entstand somit dieser schöne, schnelle und sichere Segelschoner. Die umfangreiche Navigations- und Sicherheitstechnik ermöglicht der Stortemelk das Zertifikat "Fahrgebiete weltweit".

Ihren Namen verdankt die Stortemelk dem turbulenten Fahrwasser zwischen den holländischen Wattenmeerinseln Vlieland und Terschelling. Bei stürmischem Wetter wird diese Meerenge von den Seefahrern aufgrund der tosenden Wellen als "schäumende Milch", auf Holländisch "Stortemelk", beschrieben.

Die schlanken Linien und die effektive Takelage verleihen der Stortemelk ihre schlichte Sportlichkeit, während die Innenausstattung von Komfort geprägt ist.