Model ship - Belem

Belem ship model France Belem (ship)
Belem moored in Ostend, Belgium
History
France
Name
Belém (1896–1914)
Little Antilles (1914–1921)
Fantôme II (1921–1952)
Giorgio Cini (1952–1979)
Belem (1979–present)
Homonym Belém, Brazil
Builder Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes (Chantenay-sur-Loire)
Launched 10 June 1896
First voyage 31 July 1896 to Montevideo and Belém, Brazil
Home port Nantes
Identification
IMO Number: 8622983
MMSI Number: 227051000
Call sign: FUZW
Status Active
General characteristics
Tonnage
406 tons
534 gross tonnage
Displacement 750 tons
Length
51 m (167 ft 4 in) BP
48 m (157 ft 6 in) overall length
58 m (190 ft 3 in) (BP + bowsprit)
Beam 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
Draft 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion 2 diesel engines
Sailing rig Barque
Belem is a three-masted brigantine from France.

Belem’s line drawing
Its inaugural voyage as a merchant ship took place in 1896, carrying sugar from the West Indies, cacao and coffee from Brazil and French Guiana to Nantes, France.

History
Belem escaped the eruption of Mount Pelée at Saint-Pierre, Martinique, on 8 May 1902. Arriving at Saint-Pierre before the eruption, Captain Julien Chauvelon found the bays filled with boats. With no place to anchor the ship, Chauvelon, furious, decided to anchor a few miles away, off a beach, which offered shelter during the volcanic eruption.

In 1914 she was sold to Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, who transformed her into his luxury private pleasure yacht, complete with two Bolinder Diesel auxiliary engines of 300 hp each.

In 1922 she became the property of Sir Ernest Guinness, of the Guinness family, who renamed her Fantôme II and modified her rig from square sails. Guinness was Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, at Kingstown, Ireland, from 1921 to 1939. He was Vice-Commodore from 1940 to 1948. He took Fantome II on a cruise in 1923 with his daughters Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh. They sailed around the world via the Panama and Suez canals, including a visit to Spitsbergen. During her approach to Yokohama while sailing in the Pacific Ocean, the brigantine managed to avert another catastrophe: an earthquake that devastated the port and parts of the city of Yokohama. Guinness died in 1949. Fantome II was moored in Cowes Roads, Isle of Wight.

In 1951 she was sold to industrialist Vittorio Cini, who named her Giorgio Cini in honor of his son, who died in an airplane accident near Cannes on 31 August 1949. She was armed as a sloop-rigged boat and used as a training ship until 1965, when she was considered too old for further use and was moored on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, in Venice.

In 1972 Italian carabinieri attempted to restore her to her original brigantine rig. When this proved too costly, she became the property of a shipyard. In 1976 the ship was re-rigged as a brigantine.

Finally, in January 1979, she returned to her home port as Belem, under French flag, after 65 years, towed by a French tug. Fully restored and returned to her original condition, she began a new career as a sailing training ship.

On 8 and 9 May 2024, she carried the Olympic flame for the upcoming Tokyo 2024 torch relay navigated from Athens, Greece, to Marseille. [4]

In August 2025 she is the flagship of Hanse Sail. [5]

Current specifications of Belem

Belem in Dublin, 14 July 2010
406 tons and 51 m in length
Riveted steel keel (for older parts)
Iron plate: 11 mm
Ballast in hull: 4,500 lead ingots of 50 kg each
Hull length without bowsprit: 51 m
Bowsprit length: 7 m
Overall length: 58 m
Length at waterline: 48 m
Midship beam: 8.80 m
Modelled draft: 4.60 m
Draught: 3.60 m
Gross Tonnage: 534 tons
Displacement: 750 tons
Mast - rigging
Masts in steel in 2 parts (low mast, cage mast)
Height of main mast above waterline: 34 m
Lower yards in steel, upper yards stays and tops in wood
About 220 running tackles
About 250 simple, double and triple blocks
4500 m of running tackles in polyamide rope
Sails
Number of sails: 22
Sail area: 1000.5 m2 (all measurements above, excluding storm sail)
Propulsion and equipment
Powered by 2 diesel engines: John Deere 6135AFM, 575 hp each (installed February 2013)
2 transmission masts, 2 four-blade propellers
3 generators
Fuel storage: 40 tons
Cruising range: 24 days at 7 knots, about 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km)
Freshwater reserve: 20 tons
Produces about 3 tons of water per day via dialysis
Electric capstan
3 hydraulic winches (two small on the deck, one on each side, used to hoist the upper yards, but never used during training, one large at the stern, in front of the mainmast, used to haul lines during mooring operations)
Performance
Maximum speed with engine in calm sea: 8–9 knots
Maximum sailing speed: 11–12 knots
Wind degree of beam reach 75°
Time to unfurl all sails in favorable weather: 30–40 minutes
Time to hoist all sails in good weather: 50–60 minutes
Time for a full tack: 15–20 minutes depending on wind conditions
Crew
A completed model kit of Belem.
16 men: 1 captain, 1 first officer, 2 lieutenants, 1 chief engineer, 2 cooks, 1 boatswain, 1 carpenter, 7 sailors (two from the French National Service until 2000)
Staffed by Société Nantaise de Navigation
Maximum number of apprentices: 48 (two shifts of 24, divided into thirds of 16
origin: French noble family resident in the Loire, purchased in Italy late 19th century