Name Juan Sebastian Elcano Operator Spanish Navy Commissioned August, 1928 Construction started 1927 Weight 3,732 tons Builder Cádiz | Namesake Juan Sebastián Elcano Ordered 17 April 1925 Length 113 m Launched 5 March 1927 Beam 13 m | |
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Cost 8,189,532,28 pesetas(€49,220) | ||
Juan Sebastián de Elcano is a training ship for the Royal Spanish Navy. It is a four-masted topsail, steel-hulled barquentine (schooner barque). At 113 metres (371 ft) long, it is the third-largest tall ship in the world, and is the sailing vessel that has sailed the furthest, covering more than 2,000,000 nautical miles (3,700,000 km; 2,300,000 mi) in its history.
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It is named after Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano, captain of Ferdinand Magellan's last exploratory fleet and the man to lead the first circumnavigation of the world. The ship also carries the Elcano coat of arms, which was granted to the family by Emperor Charles I following Elcano's return in 1522 from Magellan's global expedition. The coat of arms is a terraqueous globe with the motto "Primus Circumdedisti Me" (meaning: "First to circumnavigate me").
Build and design
'Juan Sebastián de Elcano' was built in 1927 in Cadiz, Spain, and its hull was designed by the naval architect Mr C E Nicholson of Camper and Nicholsons Ltd of Southampton. Constructed by Echevarrieta y Larrinaga shipyard in Cadiz. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931 the ship became part of the Spanish Republican Navy.
In 1933 under Commander Salvador Moreno Fernández's order, a series of improvements were made to the ship and the bronze plate with the Latin language inscription Tu Primus Circumdedisti Me was placed near the prow. At the time of the coup of July 1936 Juan Sebastián Elcano was at Ferrol, a harbor that had been taken by the Nationalist faction. Its plans were used twenty-five years later to construct its Chilean sail training vessel sister ship Esmeralda in 1952-1954.
Maiden voyage
Its first voyage was sea testing between April and July that year from Cádiz to Malaga, with King Alfonso XIII on board as a passenger, and then on to Sevilla, Las Palmas, Tenerife, San Sebastián, Cádiz, São Vicente, Cape Verde, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Suva, San Francisco, California, Balboa, Panama, Havana, New York City, Cádiz.
Naval Commanders of Juan Sebastián Elcano
Commanders that have been in charge of Juan Sebastián Elcano for crossings and instruction.