In 1897, a slim and trim, iron-hulled, one mast Clipper slid down the ways and into the water at the Ruijtenberg Brothers shipyard in Waspik, a town near Waalwijk in Noord-Brabant, Holland. From 1850 to 1971 this shipyard was the largest employer in the area. After wood, iron was the first material used for ships of this type.
Although iron had less strength than steel hulls in the event of a collision, because of its high carbon content, iron rusted much slower. Over the years, many elegant ships, were christened in Waspik.
Well known in the Netherlands is the "Waspik-stern", a special, flat shaped stern that such Dutch ships as "Klippers", "Aaks" and "Klipperaaks" were outfitted with.

This newly launched clipper was christened "LITRA,"
a name devised from the initials of the ship owner's children.
With a considerable load capacity of 120 tons, the ship transported a variety of cargoes well into the 1930s.
As new, usefull motors were developed, the mast was removed and a one-cylinder motor installed. The ship continued to move freight with this motor until 1986.
The owners during this period are not yet known to us and we are actively researching for this information.

In 1987, Adri Bakker purchased the ship somewhere in Belgium and remodeled it to a two-master, passenger, sailing vessel with spreaders and stengs.
Shortly thereafter, he sold the ship to William Sichting and Frank Vlaan who operated the LITRA for two years as a charter ship, sailing from Kiel on the Baltic Sea.
The clipper changed owners to Martin Duba and then
to Frans Kochx who obtained a deep water license for the ship. Frans had the hull sand-blasted and made further extensive renovations and improvements. He operated it as a charter ship until 1999 then sold it to Datema Jonkert who leased it further to various operators for an additional two years.

In 2000, Lars Mijnlieff became the new owner and
invested much work in the ship to make it seaworthy
once again. He renamed the ship, "Zwadde", after a small river that flows in the village Zandbulten in Friesland.

In November 2004, Gert Bakker took ownership, a skipper with many years experience with such Dutch ships as the "Excelsior," the "Nijverheid," the "Drie Gebroeders" and
"de Verwachting". Starting with the 2005 season,
he sailes the Zwadde with his guests to the most beautifull areas of the eastern Wadden Sea.