A brigantine, she was commissioned on 7 March 1981 and purpose-built as a sail training vessel by Jack Tyrrell in Arklow, County Wicklow.

[2] The vessel was owned by the Irish state and operated by Coiste an Asgard (a founding member of Sail Training International).

[1][3] Asgard II sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008, 20 nautical miles (37 km) southwest of Belle-Île-en-Mer,[4] at 47°18′03″N 3°33′02″W / 47.30083°N 3.55056°W / 47.30083; -3.55056.

Jimmy Deenihan, spokesperson for the opposition Fine Gael party expressed disappointment: "It is over five months since the Asgard II sank in the Bay of Biscay.

"[10]In 2010, a private team of Irish divers recovered a number of artifacts from the wreck, such as the ship's bell and steering wheel.