A set of four sail training ships from Belgium issued in August 1995 brings us a newcomer on stamp -- the barquentine MERCATOR. (other values show SAGRES. KRUZENSHTERN and AMERIGO VESPUCCI)
Built of steel in the Scottish yard of Ramage and Ferguson of Leith she was launched in December 1931 and left for Ostend on April 7.
She was originally rigged as a topsail schooner of 770 tons gross with measurements of 223ft x 35ft x 17ft. but was later re-rigged following a somewhat disastrous delivery trip when she arrived in Ostend with her fore mast sprung, her rigging slack and water in the forepeak making her down by the head.
Although blame was first attributed to the builders; a very experienced yard which among other sailing ships had built the 5 masted KOBENHAVN and the Japanese twins KAIWO MARU and NIPPON MARU; they were soon able to show that MERCATOR had been built exactly according to specifications.
In June 1932 she sailed to Antwerp but it was obvious that all was not well and she remained in a remote corner of the docks until February 1933 when she was drastically altered.
Sail area was reduced from 18000sq.ft. to 14600sq.ft. with her rig changed to a barquentine; ballast was increased by 90 tons and the mainmast diameter reduced from 29 inches to 23 inches thus reducing the weight by some 6 tons.
Under her new rig she sailed on 25 April for the Caribbean and subsequently made a further 20 successful cruises including a visit to New York in 1939. In February 1940 she sailed for the West Indies and South America but was unable to get home due to the war and remained in the Belgian Congo doing hydrographic work for a while until January 1943 when she was handed over to Great Britain and, stripped of her masts, she became a submarine depot ship.
Rusty and in poor shape she was handed back to Belgium in 1948 and after a complete refit, partly paid for by Gt. Britain, she resumed her original role and made her first post war cruise in 1951 with a total complement of 100.
In 1960 she was laid up as a museum ship in Ostend and remained there for the next 33 years but on 25 June 1993 she made a trip to Antwerp -- some of it under sail using her original canvas which was now 43 years old. On her return to Ostend she was opened to the public and over 7000 people visited her.
A full account of MERCATOR'S early career can be found in Underhill's 'Sail Training and Cadet Ships' (1952)
Article by Peter Bolton Log Book November 1995.
Belgium SG3274