Hof der dingen - Dinnerware set of the Mercator

If you were to ask West Flemish children to raise their hands if they’ve ever visited the famous Mercator ship in Ostend, chances are a lot of hands would shoot up. It’s hard to find anyone in West Flanders who hasn’t stepped on board or crossed the bridge of this museum ship at least once. Of course, the Mercator wasn’t always a museum ship. 

The Mercator carries a rich history. It was originally built in 1931 at a shipyard in Scotland to train new marines. It was designed by none other than Adrien de Gerlache, a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-1899. 

Mercator was launched on April 8, 1932, as a steel-hulled barquentine – a sailing ship with three masts. For many years, it served as a practical training vessel for future merchant officers and to a lesser degree, also to future sailors, ship engineers, and cooks. The ship could carry up to 100 people (including crew and students), and in total, it trained more than 1200 merchant officers. 

The Mercator made a total of 41 voyages to 54 countries, also called crusades. One of its most notable journeys occurred in 1936, when it was tasked with retrieving the remains of Flemish missionary and apostle of the lepers, Father Damian, from Molokai Island in Hawaii. 

From early 1943, the ship was under the control of the British Admiralty as a submarine depot ship during World War II. After difficult and taxing negotiations, the ship was finally released from her naval duties in 1947 and was towed back to Belgium, where she underwent extensive maintenance work at the Beauval and Goedemé shipyard in Ghent. 

As soon as the ship was considered seaworthy, the Mercator once again focused on its primary mission: training the new generation of navy operatives. In 1961, the Mercator became a floating museum, first in Antwerp and, from 1964, in the marina of Ostend, where it became a permanent fixture. The city of Oostende now owns the Mercator, preserving it as an important piece of maritime heritage. 

Rudy Laforce kindly donated the dinnerware set that once graced the tables aboard the Mercator.