German Hospital Ship Helgoland

Non-military aid to Vietnam, 1966 to 1972

S.S. Helgoland sailed on the route to Helgoland, a small German archipelago in the North Sea. Helgoland, the land is about two hours sailing time from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe. This went on for four years, then in 1966 she was chartered out as a hospital ship in South Vietnam which lasted until 1972. Many countries contributed in helping South Vietnam and part of Germany's contribution was the Helgoland, a 3,000-ton hospital ship to provide medical assistance to the civilian population. The ship was equipped with eight doctors, thirty medical personnel and a 130bed capacity. The Helgoland was initially stationed near Saigon and provided for approximately 6,700 patients from September 1966 to June 30, 1967. Over 850 major surgical cases were also treated. The Helgoland moved to Danang in October 1967.

After her return to Germany she was immediately sold to Stena Line and served as a ferry for a short time before she passed on to new charterers in 1974 and then was purchased two years later. After being purchased by her new owners she was renamed Baltic Star and sailed on so called Butterfahrten (shopping trip on a ferry) until 2000. While on board passengers could buy goods duty free. After a year of being inactive she was acquired by Latin Cruises who added an additional of 46 cabins and renamed her Galapagos Legend as she is now called. Today she still cruises in the Galapagos Isles region.

Shamelessly lifted and compiled from a couple of online tour agency webpages:

"The Galapagos Legend has all the amenities of a cruise liner yet it's small enough for that intimate experience with nature that brings you to the Galapagos Islands.

The M/V Galapagos Legend is a Luxury expedition ship, built in Germany, totally converted in December 2001 in Ecuador's shipyards and reconstructed in 2005. Galapagos Legend is one of the most talked about additions to the expanding Galapagos fleet, the modern 5-star, expedition-style M/V Galapagos Legend sets sail with a maximum of 100 discriminating explorers per cruise. The Legend's 3, 4, and 7-night weekly year 'round voyages turn Darwin's "living laboratory" into a course in evolution and natural history. The legend is also available for charter."

Doug Kibbey on Sep 11, 2006 "Helgoland" today plies the waters as the "Galapagos Legend" after a full refit. I sailed with this vessel amongst the Galapogos Islands in 2004 for a medical congress. It carries just under 100 passengers and had been beautifully refitted. On a tour of the bridge, I spotted another pic of it in DaNang harbor in ~'67 or so and commented to the Captain that I'd been based about 30 miles NW of there during the war myself... leading to an unrestricted tour of the engine and engineering spaces, nearly as clean as a kitchen. Doug Kibbey - 11D, 17th Cav., 101st Abn. and 2/11th ACR, Thua Thien and Hau Nghia Provs.

Quote from an unknown veteran on the Internet: "While I was stationed at the PTF base we kept close track of the Helgoland. It if put out to sea we expected rocket attacks. Guess they knew more than we did."

Det B also kept close eye on her. If we got a notice to go on alert the Helgoland was leaving port. Other times we'd notice she was gone and we'd assume they knew more than we did.

There was a documentary film made titled Helgoland in Vietnam made by a German film Company, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF).

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