Mercator (ship)

The barquentine Mercator was built as a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet. She was named after Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594), a Belgian cartographer. She was designed by G.L. Watson & Co. and built in Leith, Scotland[2] and launched in 1932.

Mercator visiting Trinidad, c. 1960.
History
Belgium
Name: Mercator
Namesake: Gerardus Mercator
Builder: Ramage and Ferguson Ltd, Leith, Scotland
Launched: 1932
Status: Museum ship
General characteristics
Tonnage: 770 gross tons
Length: 78.5 m (258 ft) overall; 68 m (223 ft) hull length[1]
Beam: 10.6 m (35 ft)
Height: foremast 39 m (128 ft); mainmast 41 m (135 ft); mizzenmast 40 metres (130 ft)
Draft: 5.1 m (17 ft)
Sail plan: Three-masted barquentine, 15 sails: four jibs, four square foresails, three staysails, two spankers, two gaff topsails
Speed: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Crew: 150

Besides being a training a ship, she was also used, mainly before World War II, for scientific observations, or as ambassador for Belgium on world fairs and in sailing events.

In 1961, she became a floating museum, first in Antwerp and, from 1964, in the marina of Ostend, just in front of the city hall. As of 2019, she remains open to visitors.[3]

Mercator at sea, painting by Yasmina (Ostend, Belgium)
Mercator in the North Sea, painting by Freddy Van Daele (Hosdent-Latinne, Belgium)

Specifications

Mercator is a composite rigging. The foremast carries square sails, the main mast and the mizzen mast are rigged with fore and aft-sails. Usually the Mercator carried 15 sails with a total surface of about 1600 m². By fair wind she could easily make 13 knots.

History
Mercator at Ostend in 2012

Mercator's real career started off in 1934 when the ship sailed from Pitcairn Island, Tahiti, Papeete, to the Marquis Islands and Honolulu for a Belgo-French scientific expedition. This was her seventh cruise and known to be a fairly remarkable one to those preceding World War Two. At the end of this expedition, two of the famous Easter Island statues were donated by the Chilean government, one to France and one to Belgium. Both statues were transported back to Europe on board the Mercator.

In 1936 Ostend's Mercator had the great honor of bringing home the remains of the Flemish missionary and apostle of the lepers, Pater Damiaan, from Molokai island.

On February 21, 1940, Mercator set out for her last cruise before World War 2. She sailed to Rio de Janeiro and afterward arrived in Boma.

From early 1945 to mid 1947, the ship was under the custody of the British Admiralty as a "Submarine Depot Ship". Unfortunately after 1947 the once elegant ship would not be able to put to sea again until January 20, 1951. After her horrible experience in Great Britain, the ship went back to Belgium to receive extensive maintenance work.

In 1951, Mercator returned to service as a training ship and completed 41 voyages, sailing almost all seas. After that she performed quite a few scientific missions. Besides that, she even competed in Tall Ships Races from Torbay-Lisbon (1956), Brest-Canary Islands (1958) and winning line honours in the Oslo-Ostend (1960) race.

All these historic events of the ship would have been impossible without the captains: Captain R. Van de Sande (from 1932 till 1955), Captain R. Ghys (from 1955 till 1960).

In 1964, Mercator became a floating museum in Ostend, moored in front of the City Hall, and since 1996 has been given National Heritage status. On 30 September 2016, Mercator was removed from her usual mooring and dry-docked for an extensive overhaul elsewhere in Ostend harbour. She returned on 29 March 2017 to her usual berth and role as a museum ship.

Books
  • Gust Vandegoor: Commandant en schoolschip: Remi Van de Sande en de Mercator, 2009
  • Werner Van de Walle: Mercator en de Belgische schoolschepen, 2012
  • Freddy Van Daele: 1956 The Belgian Training-Vessel MERCATOR and the first international Tall-ships'race, 2018

References
  1. Schauffelen, Otmar (2005). Chapman Great Sailing Ships of the World. Hearst Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-58816-384-4. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  3. "Uren". Zeilschip Mercator. Retrieved 17 September 2019.

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