Esmeralda (BE-43)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esmeralda (BE-43) is a steel-hulled four-masted barquentine tall ship of the Chilean Navy and currently the second tallest and longest sailing ship in the world.
The ship is the sixth to carry the name Esmeralda. The first was frigate Esmeralda captured from the Spanish at Callao, Peru by Admiral Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane of the Chilean Navy, in a bold incursion on the night of 5 November 1820. The second was corvette Esmeralda of the Chilean Navy which, set against superior forces, fought until sunk with colors flying on May 21, 1879 at the Battle of Iquique. These events mark important milestones for the Chilean Navy and the ship's name is said to evoke the values of courage and sacrifice.
She began construction in Cadiz, Spain in 1946 intended to become national schoolship of Spain. During her construction in 1947 the yard in which she was being built suffered catastrophic explosions which damaged the ship and placed the yard on the brink of bankruptcy. Further work on the ship was temporarily halted. In 1950 Chile and Spain entered into negotiations in which Spain offered to repay debts incurred to Chile as a result of the Spanish Civil War in the form of manufactured products, including the not yet completed Esmeralda. Chile accepted the offer and the ship was formally transferred to the ownership of Chile in 1951. Work then continued on the ship. She was finally launched 12 May 1953 with an audience of 5,000 people in attendance. She was christened by Mrs. Raquel Vicuña de Orrego using a bottle wrapped in the national colors of Spain and Chile. She was delivered to the Government of Chile on 15 June 1954, Captain Horacio Cornejo Tagle in command.
Her first sailing was to the Canary Islands and then on to New Orleans where a distillation plant was installed. She then proceeded through the Panama Canal and arrived at Valparaíso, Chile on1 September 1954 to much fanfare.
Since her commissioning, Esmeralda has been a training ship for the Chilean Navy. She has visited more than 300 ports worldwide acting as a floating embassy for Chile. She has participated in Operation Sail at New York in 1964, 1976 and 1989. She participated in Osaka World Sail in 1983. She has also participated in International Regattas of Sails in 1964, 1976, 1982 and 1990 winning the coveted Cutty Sark Trophy in the latter two participations.
Reports from Amnesty International, US Senate and Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission describe the ship as a kind of a floating jail-torture chamber for political prisoners of the Augusto Pinochet's military regime from 1973 to 1980. Probably over a hundred persons were kept there at times, and subjected to hideous treatment.
[edit] General characteristics
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Length: 113 meters
- Beam: 13.11 meters
- Maximum draught: 7 meters
- Stanchion: 8.7 meters
- Gunwhale height: 5.3 meters
- Maximum displacement: 3,673 tons
- Maximum engine speed: 13 knots
- Maximum sail speed: 17.5 knots
- Armament: 2 × 57 mm ceremonial gun mounts
- Crew: 300 sailors, 90 midshipmen
- Sails: 31 total with a sail area of 2,870 m², on four masts
- Mast height: 48.5 meters
[edit] Notes
- ↑ Esmeralda: The torture ship Site of a committee led by Germán F. Westphal, a former Chilean political prisoner and a professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. They believe the ship should not be allowed in ports as long as the crimes remain unpunished.
