Rodeados por la Inmensidad Del Mar: Percepciones y Representaciones Del Ambiente Oceánico en los Viajes de Instrucción de la Fragata Sarmiento

Abstract

This paper deals with the frigate Presidente Sarmiento -a school ship of the Argentine Navy that made training voyages between 1899 and 1938- and some of the meanings and perceptions constructed on board by its crew members. In particular, it is of interest to know how they understood, processed and made sense of the oceanic and maritime environment that surrounded them, from the ship's space.

In order to analyze these questions, the research is based on the instruments provided by maritime history, environmental history and the history of emotions. Most of the sources used are egodocuments –diaries, memoirs, and chronicles– produced by crew members of different ranks and status who describe the feelings, reflections and thoughts experienced during their voyages. By hypothesis, it is argued that the Sarmiento's training voyages were not simple navigations between ports, but rather places of production, where the oceanic environment was fundamental. The crew members gave the seas and oceans distinctive meanings and representations, which led to the construction of a sense of belonging and identity. Sailing around the world in a sailing ship, in the middle of the 20th century, had given them a unique experience that could never be understood by those who had never gone to sea or had only done so in the safety of steamships and the comfort of luxury liners.