ARC ''Gloria'' () is a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

and official

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the

Colombian Navy The Colombian Navy, officially the Colombian National Navy (), also known as the ''"Armada Nacional"'' or just the ''"Armada"'' in Spanish, is the naval branch of the Military Forces of Colombia, military forces of Colombia. The Navy is responsi ...

. She is a three-masted steel-hulled

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

. The Colombian Government authorized its navy to acquire a training ship in 1966. A contract was signed with the Spanish shipyard Celaya of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

in October 1966, and began to be fulfilled in April 1967. The ship was commissioned on 7 September 1968 with the vessel moored at the wharf of Deusto Channel. She is one of four similar barques built as sail training vessels for Latin American navies; her half-sisters are the Mexican , the Venezuelan and the Ecuadoran . She was named after Gloria Zawadsky De Rebeiz, the wife of General Gabriel Rebéiz Pizarro who was the Minister of Defense that authorized her construction but died before her completion. Apart from being a training ship she also serves a secondary role as a sailing ambassador for her home country.

History

The history of the ARC ''Gloria'' dates back to 1964, when, the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Orlando Lemaitre Torres, pushed for the acquisition by the Colombian Government of a sailing vessel in the configuration of a Three-masted barque, with the aim of using it as a Training Ship of for the Colombian Navy. Lemaitre frequently brought up the subject at work as well as during social meetings with other military commanders. Finally after intense lobbying, the Minister of Defense, General Gabriel Rebéiz Pizarro, convinced of the need for the ship and in front of several officials at a social meeting celebrating Navy Day (July 24), expressed his approval of the project and to confirm his decision he grabbed a napkin where he wrote “Valid for a Sailboat” signing it with his name. After this curious pact, the Colombian Government through executive decree 111 of January 1966, authorized the construction of the ship. The formal contract was signed on October 6 of the same year with the Spanish Naval Construction Firm based in Bilbao and with construction starting in April 1967. On the 2nd of December of the same year in question, the hull launching ceremony took place with the Minister of Defense's wife; Gloria Zawadsky De Rebeiz, in attendance she would also be the ship's namesake. General Rebeiz died before the work for which he fought for was finished. After her completion she was officially commissioned into the Colombian Navy on September 7, 1968 while docked on the Deusto Canal. Her maiden voyage began October 9 when she left the port of Ferrol bound for Cartagena de Indias where she would arrive on November 11, 1968.

References

Armada Nacional República de Colombia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria Training ships of the Colombian Navy Ships built in Spain 1968 ships Sail training ships Tall ships of Colombia