"Esmeralda " On New Pacific Cruise
p. 109 · Read in the full issue
THE four-masted, 308 ft Chilean Navy training ship Esmeralda will call at Rabaul on July 14 for a two-day stopover en route to Sydney.
The ship created immense public interest when she visited Sydney in May, 1961.
Under the command of Captain Roberto Kelly, the vessel is carry ing a crew of 278 men, including the officers and trainees. She was built for the Chilean Navy in Cadiz, Spain, in 1952. Her sister ship, Sebastian El Cano, is in service with the Spanish Navy.
Esmeralda carries about 27,000 feet of sail, has a beam of 43 ft, a gross tonnage of 3,670 tons, and measures 260 ft from main mast tip to keel.
She is usually described as a barquentine, but she has the main rigs of all types of sailing vessels incorporated in her rigging so that her trainee seamen can have wider experience.
On the current voyage, Esmeralda has already called at two places in the South Pacific—Easter Island and Papeete.
She was in Pearl Harbour early in April, and was then due to visit Yokohama, Formosa, Hong Kong, Manila and Rabaul, reaching Sydney on August 3. She will leave Sydney on August 8 and will return to Valparaiso, via Auckland, in September.