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| Gloria |
Gloria is the name of the Colombian Naval University ship, intended
for the education of the upcoming naval officers by sailing once a
year on a tour around the world. It has the biggest flag of any
other ship of its size, measuring 18x13 meters. The tall ship Gloria hails from Cartagena, Colombia, and
carried a crew of 10 officers and 75 cadets to OpSail 2000 in New
London, Connecticut.
The
Gloria is the official flagship and sail-training ship of the
Colombian Navy, and her home port is Cartagena.
Purpose-built in 1968 as a sail-training ship in the Celeya shipyard
in Spain, the Gloria is over 56 meters (257ft) long - one of
the biggest tall ships still afloat. She is steel-hulled, but there
is plenty of polished wood and brass and her four masts and 23 sails
give her an appearance of being even older than she is (every step
on the ship has the name Gloria embedded in the solid brass
escutcheon scuff-plates). Her figurehead, coated in glittering
gold-leaf, is called Maria Salud, reputedly after the sculptor's
daughter. The
Gloria has a full crew of 176, of whom up to 120 can be cadets.
Our guide told us the last voyage, completed just a few months
previously, was an anticlockwise circumnavigation of the South
American continent via the Panama Canal and the Strait of Magellan;
on that occasion the Gloria carried 6 female cadets. Although
from the outside the Gloria appears to be somewhat outdated,
once inside the guest will be amazed. The Gloria can motor
under her own power with her MAN diesel engine if so required.
Computer monitors and electronic navigation instruments are used in
the steering room, and air-conditioned coolness is but one surprise
awaiting visitors to the officer's mess at the rear. Around the
beautifully polished wooden bar, set into glass display cabinets
like museum exhibits, are scores of pre-Colombian gold and ceramic
artefacts. Since the ship is often invited to Tall Ship regattas
around the world, the Colombian Government uses the ship to showcase
its history to the foreign dignitaries who step aboard. |
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