Esmeralda (Chilean barquentine, 1953)

Type

Bark

Period

20th Century

Nation

Other

Overview: Esmeralda (BE-43) is a steel-hulled four-masted sail training ship of the Chilean Navy, one of the largest and longest tall ships still in active naval service. She is the sixth Chilean naval vessel to bear the name, a lineage stretching back to the frigate captured at Callao in 1820 and the corvette lost at the Battle of Iquique in 1879. Specifications: The ship displaces about 3,754 tons, is 113 m (371 ft) long with a 13.11 m beam and 7 m draft, with masts reaching about 48.5 m. She is rigged as a four-masted barquentine carrying 21 sails, with a total sail area of 2,870 m² (30,892 sq. ft.), and mounts 4 × 57 mm ceremonial gun mounts, reaching a maximum speed of 13 knots under engine and 17.5 knots under sail. Service History: Esmeralda was laid down in Cádiz, Spain, in 1946, originally intended to become Spain's national training ship, but during her 1947 construction the shipyard suffered catastrophic explosions that damaged the ship and halted work. In 1950 Spain and Chile negotiated a transfer of the unfinished hull as repayment for Spanish Civil War-era debts, and after the ship was formally transferred to Chile in 1951, work resumed and she was launched on 12 May 1953 before an audience of 5,000 people. She was delivered as a four-masted topsail schooner to the Government of Chile on 15 June 1954, and has since served continuously as a Chilean Navy training ship, having visited more than 300 ports worldwide acting as a floating embassy for Chile. Notable Facts: Sometime in the 1970s her rig was altered — Esmeralda's rigging was changed to a four-masted barquentine by replacing the fore gaffsail with two main staysails, with the third (top) main staysail still in place today — a detail modelers should note since sail plan and rigging differ before and after this refit. She is nicknamed La Dama Blanca (The White Lady) and sometimes called Agnès, and her sister ship, built to the same design, is the training ship for the Spanish Navy, the four-masted topsail schooner Juan Sebastián Elcano.