Amerigo Vespucci (1931)

[Fluffy Fishy]

Amerigo Vespucci is an Italian Training ship launched in 1931, I have spent a long time on these forums but it suddenly dawned to me there is next to no mention of her as a ship at all, despite her fairly well known presence in the modelling community with quite a few kits available for various levels of detail and skill. I have seen two models of her now, one in Greenwich, London the other in Monmouth, Wales, the model in Monmouth being the much more detailed of the two, she is a stunning ship, and has often been described as the worlds most beautiful vessel by various parties, most famously by the USS Independence.

She was designed by Francesco Rotundi, a Lieutenant General in the Italian Naval Engineering Corps and was one of two ships ordered in 1925, both named after the Italian explorers, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) and Cristoforo Colombo (1451-1506) in tribute to their well known discoveries and journeys to the new world. The ships, despite being steel hulled and framed were inspired by the historic ships of the line, and is loosely based on the Neapolitan steam sail battleship Monarca. She was laid down in laid down and built in the Regio Cantiere Navale of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples and is now maintained by the naval base in La Spezia. Her older sister ship, Cristoforo Columbo, built in the same shipyard was laid down in 1926 and completed in 1928, however Cristoforo Columbo was taken by the Russians in the 1947 peace negotiations following WW2, renamed Dunay and destroyed by a fire in 1963.
 

 

 

 

 

Amerigo Vespucci's Specifications are;

• Length (LOA): 100.5m or 329'9ft (Including bowsprit)
• Length (LPP): 82.4m or 270ft
• Beam: 15.56m or 51ft
• Draft: 7.3m or 24ft
• Height: 54m or 177'3ft
• Displacement: 1203t - 4146t (full load)
   
• Speed:
  • Under Engine: 11kn
  • Under Sails: 15kn
     
• Power:
  • Sails: 26, covering 2635 m² , or 28,360 square foot
  • Engines:
    • 2x Diesel 1,360kw or 1,824 bhp
    • 2x Diesel 760kw or 1020 bhp
    • 1x Electric Propulsion engine with 2x 750kw or 1010 bhp outputs.
       
• Compliment: Her typical compliment is around 400 men, comprised of roughly 15 officers, 64 NCOs, 185 sailors and 130 Naval Cadets.

As a commissioned ship in the Italian navy she spends a large portion of her time cruising in and around Italian waters taking part in officer training, mainly taking men from the Francesco Morisini Academy in Venice, she also gets involved with various pageantry around the world, occasionally taking part in tall ship races or visiting large large international regattas. Her officer training is built around trying to emphasise an importance on building seamanship, discipline and teamwork, she also plays an important part in preserving heritage as a whole, hopefully giving naval cadets a chance to understand some naval history as part of their training.

As of when writing this Amerigo Vespucci is currently undergoing maintenance work in La Spenzia, following a long tour visiting the most of the major ports of Europe as far as Denmark before returning home. Italy have also secured her future and hope to maintain her well into the future as a working sailing ship, this is something we should all be pleased about, as she is as far as I know unique in being the only ship of similar size and characteristics to historic fighting ships of the 18th and 19th Century, and the only experience similar to what it would be like to sail one of these ships not restricted to drydock. I hope to come across her properly myself some day.

Thank you for reading

Edited March 15, 2017 by Fluffy Fishy

[maturin]

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has often been described as the worlds most beautiful vessel by various parties, most famously by the USS Independence.

Is no one going to point out that she is without a doubt the least beautiful of the big steel windjammers?

With the possible exception of that poor barky with the lime green sails.

[Pablo Frias]

I had the opportunity of visiting this ship when it came to Santander, Spain, a few years ago and it was splendid.

Thx for posting

[tonyxyx]

Eh si bella bella.

[DeRuyter]

4 hours ago, maturin said:

Is no one going to point out that she is without a doubt the least beautiful of the big steel windjammers?

With the possible exception of that poor barky with the lime green sails.

Well I would put it this way - as @Fluffy Fishy noted in his post, she was built to resemble Monarca an 80 gun sol built in the 1840's, rather than a slender, sleek clipper ship on which many subsequent windjammers were modeled. So perhaps an unfair comparison.

Put it another way she has the lines of a 1-2 rate warship rather than a cargo ship built for speed. A different type of ship in my mind to Cutty Sark for example or a modern rendition like Stad Amsterdam or Europa.

[maturin]

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Put it another way she has the lines of a 1-2 rate warship

And the deck houses of a bordello

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A different type of ship in my mind to Cutty Sark for example or a modern rendition like Stad Amsterdam or Europa

20th Century windjammers (Eagle, Mir, the P-liners, et al) have very little to do with clippers, though. They are the apogee of sailing ship development.

[Pad Seayew]

I'd ask @maturin to post the lime green sail monstrosity, but I fear all the posts clamoring for it in the game.