''Mercator'' is a steel-hulled

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...

built in 1932 as a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet. She was named after

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on ...

(1512–1594), a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

cartographer. She was designed by G.L. Watson & Co. and built in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and launched in 1932. Besides being a training a ship, she was also used, mainly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, for scientific observations, or as ambassador for Belgium on world fairs and in sailing events. In 1961, she became a

floating museum Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological p ...

, first in Antwerp and, from 1964, in the marina of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, just in front of the city hall. As of 2019, she remains open to visitors.

Construction

''Mercator'' was launched in 1932 as a steel-hulled

, with 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 made her seventh cruise in 1934, sailing from Pitcairn Island,

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

, Papeete, to the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

and

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

for a Belgo-French scientific expedition. It proved to be a fairly remarkable one to those preceding World War Two. At the end of this expedition, two of the famous

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

statues, that had transported back to Europe on board the Mercator, were donated by the Chilean government, one to France and one to Belgium. In 1936 Mercator had the honor of bringing home the remains of the Flemish missionary and apostle of the lepers, Pater Damiaan, from Molokai island in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. 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 in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. From early 1945 to mid 1947, the ship was under the control of the British Admiralty as a submarine depot ship. After her release from naval duties, the ship went back to Belgium to receive extensive maintenance work. On 20 January 1951, she returned to service as a training ship and completed 41 voyages, sailing almost all seas. After that she performed quite a few scientific missions. In addition she competed in Tall Ships Races from Torbay-Lisbon (1956), Brest-Canary Islands (1958) and winning line honours in the Oslo-Ostend (1960) race. From 1932 to 1960 she had just two comanders: 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

External links

Museum site for barquentine ''Mercator'' - Ostend, Belgium
* Imperial War Museum Collection Searc
HMS ''Mercator'' (search results)
Accessed 30 June 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercator (Ship) Barquentines Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Belgium 1932 ships Museum ships in Belgium