OpSail announces first ships to commit to June event

Officials with OpSail 2012, the nautical festival coming to Hampton Roads in June, announced Thursday the first 14 international ships that have committed to the event.

The tall sailing and naval ships are from Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

Organizers expect up to two dozen ships to confirm participation in coming months.

OpSail will be in Hampton Roads June 7-12 as a part of a seven-port tour including New Orleans, New York, Baltimore and Annapolis. 

The ships, according to OpSail organizers, are:

USCG Barque EAGLE was built for the German Navy in 1936 as the HORST WESSEL. EAGLE was part of the war reparations paid to the United States following World War II. Its homeport is New London, Conn., where it sails as the Coast Guard Academy’s training vessel.

GODSPEED is a replica of one of the three ships that brought colonists to Jamestown in 1607. GODSPEED was built in Rockport, Maine, in 2005. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America. 

GLORIA is the 249-foot-long tall ship from Colombia that sails with midshipmen from the Colombian Navy. The ship is based in Cartegena and represents Colombia at maritime festivals around the world.

JUAN SEBASTIAN DE ELCANO is named after one of explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s captains. JUAN SEBASTIAN DE ELCANO sails as the training ship for the Spanish Navy. It was built in 1927 and has sailed around the world six times.

CISNE BRANCO, meaning “White Swan”, is the training vessel for officers and cadets from the Brazilian Navy and Merchant Marine Academy. It was commissioned on March 2000, and represents Brazil in maritime events around the world.

GUAYAS was built in Bilbao, Spain, in 1976. She sails for the Ecuadorian Naval Academy, teaching seamanship and navigation skills to naval cadets.

CUAUHTÉMOC serves Mexico as the training vessel for its Navy, a role the ship has fulfilled for more than 20 years. The ship participates in worldwide tall ship events while teaching seamanship and navigation, taking more than 100 cadets to sea for each of its cruises.

HDMS ABSOLON, the 451-foot naval frigate of Denmark, is built to support command and control, anti-air or -submarine, amphibious, medical, disaster aid or sealift missions. It was commissioned in 2005 and has served NATO in its efforts to reduce piracy threats along the Horn.

RFA ARGUS, a 574-foot aviation training and primary casualty receiving naval ship of the United Kingdom, was built as a roll-on, roll-off container ship and converted for use in the Royal Navy in 1984. Twelve Harrier jump jets can operate off its deck. The vessel served in the Falklands War and as a primary casualty recovery ship during the first Persian Gulf War. 

HMS TALENT, a 280-foot fast-attack submarine of the United Kingdom, is a Trafalgar-class submarine, the sixth built for the Royal Navy. It was commissioned in May 1990 and is equipped with one of world’s most advanced sonar systems. (It will be berthed at Norfolk Naval Station and not downtown Norfolk.) 

HMCS GOOSE BAY, a 182-foot KINGSTON class coastal defense vessel, was commissioned in 1998 and is home-ported with Canada’s Atlantic fleet in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

HMCS MONCTON, a182-foot KINGSTON class coastal defense vessel, was commissioned in 1998 and home-ported with Canada’s Atlantic fleet in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

FGS HESSEN, a 469-foot naval frigate from Germany, is that country's newest Sachsen class air-defense frigate, commissioned in April 2006. The vessel carries the latest in radar and missile defenses, and two NH90 helicopters can operate from a small flight deck. 

HNOMS THOR HEYERDAHL, a 440-foot frigate from Norway, is named after the famous Norwegian Arctic explorer. This class of frigate forms the backbone of the Norwegian Navy, and is equipped for anti-submarine and air-defense duties.