Tall Ships

ARA LIBERTAD, a 340-foot, three-masted, a steel-hulled full-rigged ship, is homeported in Buenos Aires. She has 28,545 square feet of sail, and has a crew of 24 officers, 187 crewmen, as well as 150 cadets. She was built in 1963 by the Rio Santiago Shipyard in Ensenada, Argentina. One of the largest and fastest tall ships in the world, holder of several speed records, Libertad serves as a school vessel in the Argentine Navy. Since her maiden voyage, she has covered more than 800,000 nautical miles, visited about 500 ports in more than 60 countries, and trained more than 11,000 navy graduates.

BLUENOSE II, a 150-foot, steel-hulled, two-masted schooner, is homeported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She serves as an ambassador for Canadian maritime heritage. She has one of the largest mainsails in the world, measuring 4,150 square feet, and has a crew of five officers, a chief cook and 12 deckhands. She was Built in 1963 as a replica of the original legendary fishing schooner Bluenose and gifted to the government of Nova Scotia in 1971.

ESMERALDA, a 371-foot steel-hulled four-masted barquentine tall ship of the Chilean Navy is homeported in Valparaiso, Chile. She has a sail area of 30,892 square feet, and a crew of 300 sailors and 90 midshipmen. Built in Cadiz, Spain, in 1946, her sister ship is Juan Sebastian de Elcano of Spain. She has visited more than 300 ports worldwide, acting as a floating embassy for Chile. She participated in several Operation Sail events in New York.

GLORIA, a 212-foot, three-masted barque, is homeported in Cartagena, Colombia. She carries 15,000 square feet of sail and has a crew typically numbering around 165: a permanent crew of about 85 and approximately 80 naval cadets. As a training ship, she is the official flagship of the Colombian Navy. Built in 1968, she is named for wife of Defense Minister General Gabriel Rebéiz Pizarro who pushed for construction of the ship for the Navy. Gloria’s half-sisters are the Mexican Cuauhtemoc, the Venezuelan Simon Bolivar and the Ecuadoran Guayas.

JUAN BAUTISTA CAMBIASO, a 177-foot, steel-hulled, three-master barquentine, is homeported in Santo Domingo. Launched in 2009 in Bulgaria and acquired by the Dominican Republic in 2018, she serves as the naval training ship for its cadets. She has a sail area of 11,000 square feet, a permanent crew of 12 and can accommodate up to 37 cadets. She is named for the founder of the Dominican Republic navy.

GUAYAS is a 257-foot long, steel-hulled, three-masted barque of the Ecuadorian Navy homeported in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She displays 15,200 square feet of sail and has a crew of 35 officers and 120 enlisted sailors and trainees. Launched in 1978, named in jointly in honor of Chief Guayas, the Guayas River, and the first steamship that was constructed in South America. She participated in many OpSail events in New York.

BELLE POULE, a 123-foot, two-masted, schooner, is homeported in Brest, France. She has a sail area of 4,800 square feet, and embarks a crew of three officers, five petty officers, and 12 seamen. She was built in France in 1932 as a replica of a cod-fishing schooner. Belle Poule has participated in several OpSail appearances in previous commemorations.

GORCH FOCK is a 266-foot-long, three-masted barque tall ship of the German Navy homeported in Kiel, Germany. She has 21,010 sq feet of sails, a permanent crew of 80-100, and space for 140-200 cadets. Under certain circumstances, she can hold up to 360 passengers. She was built in 1958 as a replacement for the original Gorch Fock built in 1933 which was taken as war reparations by the Soviet Union after World War II, renamed Tovarishch, and returned to Germany. Gorch Fock has trained 14,500 cadets. She completed a circumnavigated in 1987-88.

INS SUDARSHINI, a 177-foot three-masted barque, homeported in Kochi, Kerala, India. She carries 11,140 square feet of sail area in her 20 sails, and has a complement of five officers, 40 sailors and 30 trainee cadets. Designed by Colin Mudie, a U.K.-based naval architect, she was built by Goa Shipyard Ltd. on the west coast of India and commissioned in 2012. A sister ship to INS Tarangini, her name means “beautiful lady Sundari”, after the half-sister of Buddha.

KRI BIMA SUCI, a 364-foot, three-masted barque, is homeported in Surabaya, Indonesia. She carries over 36,000 square feet of sail and has a complement of 120. Built at Freire Shipyard, Vigo, Spain, she was launched in 2017 and serves as a floating ambassador for the Indonesian Navy.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI is a 329-foot, full-rigged three-masted sail training vessel of the Italian Navy homeported in La Spezia, Italy. She carries 30,400 square feet of sail and has a standard complement of 16 officers, 70 NCOs, and 190 sailors (and 130 Naval Academy cadets in summer). Launched in 1931, she has been continuously active except during World War II. She made circumnavigations in 2002 and 2023 Named after the eponymous explorer, Amerigo Vespucci often takes part in sailing parades and tall ship races, where she is in amicable rivalry with Gorch Fock. While sailing the Mediterranean in 1962, the aircraft carrier USS Independence flashed the Amerigo Vespucci with the light signal asking: "Who are you?" The response: "Training ship Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Navy." The Independence replied: "You are the most beautiful ship in the world." In 2022, the Amerigo Vespucci sailed by the American aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush, which saluted the ship and commented: "You are still, after 60 years, the most beautiful ship in the world."

PICTON CASTLE is a 179-foot three-masted barque unofficially homeported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, although she is flagged in the Cook Islands. She carries 12,450 feet of sail and has a crew of 12 professionals and up to 40 trainees. Built in 1928 as a steam-powered fishing trawler in Selby, Yorkshire, and used for education and sail training, she has made seven circumnavigations. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy to serve in World War II as a minesweeper HMS Picton Castle, where her actions earned the nickname “Liberator of Norway”.

TUIGA, a three-masted, 93-foot, (25-meter) wooden-hull racing schooner, is homeported in Monaco, where she is the flagship of the Yacht Club of Monaco. She has 4,433 square feet of sail and employs a crew of four for cruising, with accommodations for four guests. For racing she requires a crew of 16 experienced sailors. She was built in the United Kingdom in 1909 by the renowned Scottish shipbuilder William Fife III, changing names and ownership several times before being restored and acquired by Prince Albert of Monaco in 1995. Tuiga is known for her elegant design, powerful racing performance in Mediterranean regattas, and role in training young sailors.

HNLMS URANIA, an 89-foot ketch homeported in Den Helder, Netherlands, serves as a modern sail training vessel for future officers from the Royal Naval College. She has 3,282 square feet of sail and carries a small crew of four and 14 officer cadets. She was launched in 2004.

OOSTERSCHELDE, a 164-foot three-masted topsail schooner homeported in Rotterdam, is the largest restored Dutch sailing ship. Once a cargo vessel, she now sails worldwide on training voyages. She has a sail area of 9,590 square feet, carries a crew of eight and can embark 24 overnight passengers. She completedcircumnavigations in 1996-98 and 2012-2014 and 2024-2025. Built in 1918, she is owned by Rotterdam Sailing Ship Foundation, a non-profit organization.

BAP UNION is a 378-foot, four-masted, steel-hulled sail training ship homeported in Callao, Peru. The largest sail training vessel in Latin America, she has 36,620 square feet of sail and embarks of crew of 250 officers and naval cadets. She was built in Peru and commissioned in 2016. As the goodwill ambassador of the Peruvian Navy, she promotes Peru in its voyages around the world. Her figurehead, made of bronze by the Peruvian sculptor Pilar Martínez Woodman, features several symbols of the Inca culture.

NRP SAGRES, a 292-foot, three-masted barque, makes her homeport in Lisbon. She has a sail area of 22,000 square feet and a crew of 128 with 63 naval cadets. Built in 1937 in Germany as a sister ship to Gorch Fock and Eagle, she was sold to Brazil, and then acquired by Portugal in 1961 where she was renamed Sagres and became the primary naval training ship and ambassador of the Portuguese Navy. Her distinctive square sails feature Christ’s cross, on the fore and main masts and gaff rigging on the mizzen mast. She has made three circumnavigations.

MIRCEA, a 269-foot, three-masted barque, is homeported in Constanta, Romania, on the Black Sea. With 23 sails and sail area of 18,837 square feet, she has a complement of 80-89 personnel and 120-140 cadets. She was built in 1938 in Hamburg, Germany, for the Romanian Navy. As a sister ship of Eagle, Gorch Fock, and Sagres. she is a familiar sight at tall ship events worldwide, and has participated in several OpSail events in New York.

JUAN SEBASTIAN de ELCANO, the 371-foot, four-master topsail, steel-hulled barquentine, calls Cadiz, Spain, her homeport. With a sail area of 30,900 square feet and a complement of 300 sailors and 90 midshipmen, she is the third-largest tall ship in the world. Built in Cadiz, Spain, in 1928, she has traveled 2.3 million miles in her lifetime as a training ship of the Spanish Navy. She is a sister ship of Esmeralda, of Chile.

ERNESTINA-MORISSEY is a 156-foot, two-masted schooner homeported in Bedford, Massachusetts. She has a sail area of 8,323 feet and a complement of 32 sailors. Originally used for fishing and cargo, she now serves as training ship for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and as the state ship of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Built in 1894, has a rich service history and will be the oldest ship in Sail4th.

HMS GLADAN is 129-foot-long, two-masted topsail schooner homeported in Karlskrona, Sweden. She has a sail area of 7,340 square feet and a complement of nine officers, 19 midshipmen, and crew. Built in 1947, she serves as a training vessel for the Swedish Navy.

CAPITAN MIRANDA is a 210-foot, three-masted staysail schooner homeported in Montevideo, Uruguay. She carries 9,185 square feet of sail and a complement of 67 crew and eight passengers. Built in 1930 at Cadiz, Spain, and launched as a hydrographic vessel, she was repurposed and converted to a training ship in 1978.

DAR MLODZIEZY is a 354-foot, three-masted full-rigged ship homeported at the Gdynia Maritime University. She has a sail area of 32,000 square feet and normally carries a crew of 40 as well as and 136 cadets. Built in 1982, she serves as a training ship for Polish sailors. She circumnavigated in 1987-88, and again in 2018-2019 to commemorate Poland’s 100th anniversary of independence.

HARVEY GAMAGE is a 131-foot, gaff rigged schooner homeported in Portland, Maine. She has a sail area of 4,200 feet and a crew of 35: nine permanent, with 22 youth trainees and four adult chaperones. Built in 1973, she serves as a floating classroom and platform for experiential learning and hands-on seamanship.

“America’s Tall Ship,” the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter EAGLE, is a 295-foot three-masted barque that has trained Coast Guard cadets since 1946. She is homeported in New London, Connecticut. She carries 22,000 square feet of sail and has a core crew of eight officers and 50 enlisted members, plus up to 150 Coast Guard cadets during training cruises. Built in Germany in 1936 as the Horst Wessel, she was acquired by the United States in 1946, renamed Eagle, and remains the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service. She is a sister ship of Gorch Fock of Germany, Sagres of Portugal and Mircea of Romania. Eagle always leads the Parade of Sail in U.S. port visits.

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY is a 200-foot, three-masted, full-rigged ship homeported at Ford Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. She has a sail area of 14,000 square feet and can accommodate 49 guests overnight and up to 75 passengers during the day. Launched in 2015, she is the first ocean-going full-rigged ship built in the United States in over 100 years. She is the official flagship and tall ship ambassador of the state of Rhode Island. Named after the American naval hero of the war of 1812, she is one of the largest civilian training ships in the United States.

WHEN AND IF, a 63.5-foot schooner, was originally commissioned by General George Patton in 1939 and fully restored in 1994 and again in 2011. She was named When And If because Patton’s dream was to sail around the world “when the war is over, and if I live through it.” Unfortunately, he was never able to fulfil that vision. This historic schooner now sails out of Key West, FL, in the winter and Salem, MA, in the summer.

ELISSA, a 141-foot three-masted iron-hulled barque, is homeported in the Galveston Historic Seaport, where she serves as the official tall ship of the State of Texas, and conducts public tours and frequent local day sails. She has 10,890 square feet of sail and a usual crew of 42. She was built in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877 as a merchant ship. Over the years, she has sailed under the flags of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Greece. She was acquired by the Galveston Historic Foundation in 1975, extensively restored as a sailing ship, participated in the 1986 Statue of Liberty centennial in New York, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Extensively refurbished in 2014, she remains one of the world’s oldest sailing hulls still in operation.