The birth of the Belem
The Belem was born in 1896, at the request of Fernand Crouan, at the head of the house Denis Crouan Fils, shipowners in Nantes. Crouan specializes in importing and exporting chocolate and sugar from the Caribbean and South America. She works notably with the chocolate factory Meunier. The three-masted steel hull boat is built by Adolphe Dubigeon, engineer-builder, at the head of the Dubigeon shipyards in Chantenay-sur-Loiret. The shipyard produces a small, elegant, fast and above all robust ship, since it can hold a load of 675 tonnes, but its appearance is more like a yacht than a commercial ship. This is how he is nicknamed the"yacht" of the Crouan armament, without thinking that one day he will be one. Finally, the Belem was built in less than 6 months and launched on June 10, 1896. 13 men formed the crew of the elegant ship and its motto, inscribed on its bow is that of Brazil"Ordem e Progresso" which means"Order and Progress".
Its name, Belem, is given to it by its owner, in homage to the Brazilian port of the same name, where the Crouans founded a trading post at the beginning of the 19th century.
A merchant ship until 1914
His campaigns were not easy and from the start, he escaped a violent fire on board, in Brazil, where his load, composed of 115 mules, was entirely burned. Again, on May 8, 1902, the eruption of Mount Pelée, in the north of Martinique, destroyed the town and port of St Pierre, as well as all the boats in the harbour and killed 30,000 people. Only two people survive. At that time, Saint-Pierre was the commercial capital of Martinique and was nicknamed the"Petit Paris des Antilles". Fortunately, the Belem was anchored in a bay, due to the lack of space in the port of St Pierre. In the port, only the Orsoline decided to flee in spite of port regulations which forbade the lifting of the anchor without authorisation. He will be the only survivor of the ships that were stranded
Until 1914, the Belem undertook trade missions from the West Indies to France. At the beginning he transported cocoa beans from Amazonia for the chocolate maker Meunier. Later he crossed the Atlantic for two other shipowners, carrying rum and sugar cane.
With the beginning of the First World War, many commercial sailing ships were destroyed, the Belem, nicknamed the"petit Antillais" left France and ceased its commercial activity. He will then change his life and career.
A yacht career and a world tour
In 1914, it was bought by the Duke of Westminster, who transformed it into an elegant yacht, equipped with engines, capable of accommodating on board about 40 people, including crew. The cabin is raised and decorated with Victorian balusters. Two parts are built, the small and the big roof, which come to enlarge the reception of the boat. The double revolution staircase and the mahogany decorations of Cuba are still visible today.
In 1921, the Trois-Mâts changed ownership and name. It was bought by Sir Arthur Ernest Guiness, vice-president of breweries and a great lover of sailing, who appointed it Phantom II and placed it under the British flag. The idea is to use the Belem for cruises and especially long-distance trips. He toured the world from March 29, 1923 to March 2, 1924, using the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal.
On the eve of the Second World War, the ship was disarmed and stayed on the Isle of Wight during the conflict.
