The history of Kapitan Glowacki began in 1944 in Swinoujscie. The vessel was built on the basis of an unfinished German coastal surveillance cutter (the so-called KFK). The Poles, who found the wooden hull after the end of the war, tried to bring the construction to completion and use the finished vessel for fishing. When this failed, in 1949 the ship was acquired by the National Centre for Maritime Education and commissioned the Gdynia Fishery Shipyard to convert it into a sailing ship. rigged as a gaff-rigged ketch, it entered service on 19 April 1951 under the name Henryk Rutkowski. The flag was hoisted in the yacht basin in Gdynia. The vessel made school voyages mainly on the Baltic, less frequently also on the North Sea. She was commanded, among others, by Kazimierz Jurkiewicz, later commander of the Dar Pomorza. In 1959-1963, the sailing ship was associated with Trzebiez, then it was sent to the sailing training centre of the National Defence League in Jastarnia. It returned to western Pomerania in 1970 and was renamed White Elephant for a few months.
In 1997 the owner, the Polish Sailing Association, decided to change the name to Kapitan Głowacki. Communist activist Henryk Rutkowski was replaced as patron by Władysław Głowacki, a promoter of sailing in Poland who died in 1995. Captain Głowacki achieved his greatest success in 2014 when, unexpectedly, sailing under the command of captain Wojciech Maleika, he triumphed in The Tall Ships Races regatta. Unfortunately, after a season rich in regatta laurels, the sailing ship stood in Trzebiez, waiting for better times. However, there were no funds for renovation. In August 2016, the situation became dramatic. Moored at the berth, the leaking vessel settled to the bottom of the harbour basin. After she was picked up in October 2016, she was towed to Kołobrzeg.
On 6 August 2020, she was purchased from the Polish Sailing Association by the shipowner company 3 Oceans, who commissioned us to carry out a comprehensive reconstruction of Kapitan Glowacki. After more than two years of work (as of August 2020). focused on the rebuilding of the keel, Kapitan Glowacki was re-launched on 12 January 2023. The next stage involved building the interior, making a new deck, working on the rigging and a myriad of elements that ultimately influenced her to be able to solemnly raise the flag on 18 May 2024.
