A nautical tidbit from a mid-August 1888 edition of The Daily Morning Astorian involved worry over the new British ship, steel-hulled Dunboyne, being lost in a whirlpool on its maiden voyage, and relief when it finally arrived in port.

The Dunboyne, which is about 257 feet long and 37 feet wide, is one of the rare ships of that vintage still in use. Launched in March 1888, it sailed trade routes to Australia, Europe and the U.S. West Coast. In 1909, it was sold to Norway, then again in 1915 to a Swedish company, and renamed the G.D. Kennedy (inset photo).

Sold again in 1923, this time to the Swedish Navy, the ship was renamed yet again, as the af Chapman (after Vice Admiral Fredrik Henrik af Chapman), and sailed around the world as a training ship until its final voyage in 1934.

During World War II, until 1945, the af Chapman served as a Navy barracks ship in Stockholm harbor. The Stockholm City Museum saved the ship from being demolished in 1947.

Af Chapman, now moored on the western shore of the islet Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, has been managed by the Swedish Tourist Association since 1949. After major renovations then, and again in 2007 and 2008, it serves as a popular floating youth hostel, and is so well preserved it looks like it could set sail any minute.