2008 AD., Germany, Federal Republic, 50th anniversary sailor Gorch Fock commemorative, Hamburg mint, 10 Euro, KM 274.

Germany, Federal Republic, 50th anniversary sailor Gorch Fock commemorative, engraver: Frantisek Chochola (obv.), Hamburg mint (J), 2008 AD.,
10 Euro (32,5 mm / 17,94 g), 0.925 silver, 0.075 copper, mintage 1.760.000 (260.000 proof), medal alignment ↑↑, smooth immerged lettered edge,
Obv.: BUNDESREPUBLIK / DEUTSCHLAND // 10 EURO 2008 / J , issuer, mint mark "J", value, date and 12 stars around eagle.
Rev.: 50 JAHRE GORCH FOCK // LÄNGE • 89,32 m • BREITE • 12 m • HÖHE • 45,30 m / TIEFGANG • 5,50 m • VERDRÄNGUNG • 2002 t / GESCHWINDIGKEIT • 17 kn (31 km/h) / TAKELUNGSART • BARK / STAPELLAUF / 1958 , a big sailor sailing left, bordered at the top by the legend "50 years of Gorch Fock". The contours of the ship are reflected in the lower half of the coin in a footer with the technical data and the date of the launch.
Edge: immerged letters: SEEFAHRT IST NOT ~ .
KM 274 ; Jaeger 537 ; Schön 266 .

Year / Mint Mark / Mintage
2008 / J / 1,500,000
2008 / J / 260.000

Gorch Fock was the pseudonym of the German author Johann Wilhelm Kinau (22 August 1880 – 31 May 1916). In 1904 Kinau started publishing poetry and stories in his native Low German dialect. In 1913 he published his most popular work, the novel Seefahrt ist Not!, in which he describes the life of the deep sea fishermen of his home island.
In the First World War, Kinau was drafted into the German infantry in 1915. He fought in Serbia and Russia and later at Verdun. From 1916 he served in the German Navy, having requested the transfer. He served as a lookout on the light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden and died when the ship was sunk in the Battle of Jutland. His body was found on the Swedish shore near Fjällbacka and interred on the island of Stensholmen together with other German and British servicemen.
The German Navy named two training ships in his honor, the Gorch Fock of the Kriegsmarine and the Gorch Fock of the Deutsche Marine. Gorch-Fock-Wall on the Hamburg Wallring is also named after him.

Gorch Fock I (ex Tovarishch, ex Gorch Fock) is a German three-mast barque, the first of a series built as school ships for the German Reichsmarine in 1933. She was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union after World War II and renamed Tovarishch. The ship was acquired by sponsors, after a short period under the Ukrainian flag in the 1990s and a prolonged stay in British ports due to lack of funds for necessary repairs, and she sailed to her original home port of Stralsund where her original name of Gorch Fock was restored on 29 November 2003. She is a museum ship, and extensive repairs were carried out in 2008.
Niobe, 1930
The Federal German government built a replacement training ship Gorch Fock (1958) which is still in service.

The Gorch Fock is a tall ship of the German Navy (Deutsche Marine). She is the second ship of that name and a sister ship of the Gorch Fock built in 1933. Both ships are named in honour of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916. The modern-day Gorch Fock was built in 1958 and has since then undertaken 146 cruises (as of October 2006[needs update]), including one tour around the world in 1988. She is sometimes referred to (unofficially) as the Gorch Fock II to distinguish her from her older sister ship. The Gorch Fock is under the command of the Naval Academy in Flensburg-Mürwik.

more on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(author) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(1933) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(1958)