Elcano in Pontevedra
History
Spain
Name	Juan Sebastian de Elcano
Namesake	Juan Sebastián Elcano
Operator	Spanish Navy
Ordered	17 April 1925
Builder	Echevarrieta y Larrinaga yard, Cadiz, Spain
Launched	5 March 1927
Commissioned	August, 1928
Maiden voyage	19 April 1928
Homeport	Cadiz, Spain
Identification	IMO number:  8642567 MMSI number: 224977000 Callsign: EBCB
Status	Active
Notes	training ship
Badge
General characteristics
Displacement	3673 tons
Length	113 m (371 ft)
Beam	13.11 m (43.0 ft)
Height	48.5 m (159 ft)
Draft	7 m (23 ft)
Sail plan	four-masted barquentine; 21 sails, total sail area of 2,870 m2 (30,900 sq ft) [1]
Speed	max 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) engine 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) sail
Complement	300 sailors, 90 midshipmen
Armament	2 × 57 mm ceremonial gun mounts
Notes	Line art of Juan Sebastián de Elcano

Juan Sebastián de Elcano is a training ship of the 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 lifetime.

It is named after Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano, captain of Ferdinand Magellan's last exploratory fleet and the man who completed the first circumnavigation of the world. The ship 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 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 ^[2] 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 de Elcano was in 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

It conducted sea trials between April and July that year from Cádiz to Málaga, 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. ^[3]

Naval Commanders of Juan Sebastián Elcano

Commanders that have been in charge of Juan Sebastián Elcano for crossings and instruction. ^[4]

See also

• Fernando Villaamil, and his circumnavigation in 1892-1894 commanding the Nautilus training ship.
• Ferrol
• Spanish Naval Academy In modern times, Institution where the Spanish Armada (i.e.: Spanish Navy) officers and other personnel receive their education.
• El Galatea (also known as Glenlee) From 1922 till 1969 she was the Training Tall Ship for the Spanish Navy in Ferrol (North-western Spain).
• El Club Naval de Ferrol Originally designed for the amusement of the Spanish Navy personnel and their families posted to the Naval Station of Ferrol.
• Structure of the Spanish Navy in the 21st century
• List of large sailing vessels
• List of schooners

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Juan Sebastián Elcano.