In 1926 Luckner raised funds to buy a sailing ship which he called the "Vaterland" and he set out on a goodwill mission around the world, leaving Bremen on 19 September and arriving in New York on 22 October 1926. An entertaining speaker, he was widely admired for his seamanship and for having fought his war with such a minimal loss of life. This opened many doors for him in the United States, where he spoke on hundreds of occasions across the country, both in German and later, increasingly, in English. He won the support of many notable people, including diplomats, politicians, and even some of the American Legion. Henry Ford presented Luckner with a motor car, and the city of San Francisco made him an honorary citizen. US President Calvin Coolidge wanted to meet him, but Luckner declined at the request of his government. Feeling that his "goodwill mission", as he called it in his travelogue, "Seeteufel erobert Amerika" ("Sea-devil conquers America"), could neither have greater success elsewhere, nor could he be financially sustained by the income as a speaker, however popular and successful; he returned to Germany, where he arrived on 19 April 1928.