ARM ''Cuauhtémoc'' is a

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on a ...

vessel of the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy () is one of the components of the Mexican Armed Forces. The Secretariat of the Navy is in charge of administration of the navy. The commander of the navy is the Secretary of the Navy, who is both a cabinet minister and a career ...

, launched in 1982.

History

''Cuauhtémoc'' is the last of four

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s built by the naval shipyards of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Spain, in 1982, all built to a design similar to the 1930 designs of the German firm

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

, like , , and . Built at the Celaya Shipyards in Bilbao, she was designed by naval engineer Juan José Alonso Verástegui. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was laid on 24 July 1981, and she was delivered to the

at Bilbao on 19 July 1982. A crew of cadets from the Mexican Naval Academy received the ship and brought ''Cuauhtémoc'' to Mexico. Like her sister ships, Colombia's , Ecuador's and Venezuela's , ''Cuauhtémoc'' is a sailing ambassador for her home country and a frequent visitor to world ports, having sailed over in her 43 years of service, with appearances at the

Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and co ...

s, the American Sail Training Association

Tall Ships Challenge The Tall Ships Challenge is an annual event organized by American Sail Training Association, Tall Ships America alternating in a three year cycle between the Great Lakes, the West Coast of the United States, Pacific and the East Coast of the Uni ...

s, Sail Osaka, and others.

Incidents

Collision with Portugalete suspension bridge

In 2007, while transiting the El Abra route down the Bilbao estuary in Spain, the

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...

collided with the suspension bridge in the municipality of

Portugalete Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. The town has 45,294 inhabitants as of 2021 and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located ...

. There was only minor damage to the top of the mainmast. There were no injuries and the ship was not stopped. The maneuver was a calculated risk by the local authorities since all boats had to clear the bridge. The height of ''Cuauhtémoc'' was and normally the maneuvers are done at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

, so the local pilots coordinated everything to avoid mishaps. A similar collision also happened to the Portuguese training ship NRP ''Sagres'' in 2000.

Disappearance of a cadet

On 11 June 2017, a cadet fell overboard from the ship during a sail maneuver near

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. Despite intensive searches coordinated between Mexico and India, she was not located. In the vessel's 35 years of service up to that point, this was the first fatal incident.

New York City collision

On the evening of 17 May 2025, during the training cruise that began on 6 April 2025, ''Cuauhtémoc''s three masts collided with the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

. At least 19 of the people aboard were injured, four critically. A search and rescue operation was launched. Two of the injured subsequently died.

Crest

The body of the shield is made up of two concentric circles: the exterior, like a cord of

abacá Abacá ( ; ), also known as Manila hemp, is a species of banana, ''Musa textilis'', endemic to the Philippines. The plant grows to , and averages about . The plant has great economic importance, being harvested for its fiber extracted from t ...

, suggests the ship's rigging, the tool necessary for the crew to raise and lower the sails. The inner circle serves to concentrically divide the total circumference of the body. The internal part of these carries in its center the silhouette of ''Cuauhtémoc'' on her port side and with all the rigging, sailing to the west, driven by the wind, represents her first trip to Mexico from Spain. In the ring formed by the two circles there are two inscriptions: reading ''Armada de México'' (Mexican Navy) on the top, and ''Buque Escuela Cuauhtémoc'' (Cuauhtémoc School Ship), on the bottom. The same ring offers, at the eastern point, the figure of the wind god Ehécatl, who with his breath propels the ship to the west. At the setting point appears the Sun of the evening twilight; at the north point, interspersed in the inscription, the sidereal stars that make constant knowledge of their position possible. Finally, in the upper part of the body, the eagle of the

Mexican Coat of Arms The coat of arms of Mexico (, lit. "national shield of Mexico") is a national symbol of Mexico and depicts a Mexican (golden) eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. The design is rooted in the legend that the Aztec peop ...

, which recalls the origin of the ship and its strength.

Figurehead

The

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a practice of who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet '' de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that ...

depicts

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", an ...

, the last Aztec emperor and namesake of the vessel. The name of this ship represents the warlike lineage of the Aztec emperor, who was also known for his bravery and his love of poetry. It was sculpted by Juan de Ávalos, considered one of the Spanish sculptors with the greatest passion for the human body.

Cruises

* Atlantic Cruise 1982 * Oriente Cruise 1983 * Tahiti Cruise 1984 * North Atlantic Cruise 1985 * Liberty Cruise 1986 * South Pacific Cruise 1987 * Mediterranean Cruise 1988 * Eurocaribe Cruise 1989 * 1990 Circumnavigation Cruise * 50th Anniversary Cruise of the Secretary of the Atlantic Navy 1992 * Cape Horn Cruise 1992-1993 * Cruise Europe 1994 * Canada Cruise 1994 * Baltic Cruise 1996 * Cruiser Osaka 1997 * Cruise Australia 1998 * Lisbon Cruise 1998 * 1999 North Sea Cruise * Euroamerica 2000 Cruise * Europe Cruise 2001 * 2002 Circumnavigation Cruise * Rouen Cruise 2003 * Sail Rhode Island 2004 * 2005 North Pacific Training Cruise * Circumnavigation Cruise 2006 * Baltic Instructional Cruise 2007 * Rouen Cruise 2008 * Japan Instructional Cruise 2009 * 2010 Bicentennial Sailing Instruction Cruise South America * Mediterranean Cruise 2011 * Atlantic Cruise 2012 * Europe Cruise 2013 * Sail Latin America 2014 * Levante Mediterranean Cruise 2015 * Ibero Atlantic Cruise 2016 * Centennial Cruise of the 2017 Constitution * Sail Latin America 2018 * Tricontinental Training Cruise 2024 * Consolidation Of Mexico's Independence 2025 Training Cruise

Gallery

File:Tall-ship-cuauhtemoc.png, ''Cuauhtémoc'' at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, 31 July 2004 File:Barquecuauhtemoc.jpg, ''Cuauhtémoc'' at

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 2005 File:CuauhtemocGalaFlagowa.jpg, Sailors on the yards of ''Cuauhtémoc'' in 2007 File:Figure de proue Cuauhtemoc.jpg,

Figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a practice of who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet '' de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that ...

of ''Cuauhtémoc'' in 2007 File:Cuauhtémoc in falmouth 2023.jpg, ''Cuauhtémoc'' setting off from Falmouth, August 2023, during a Tall Ship race. File:Mexican tallship Cuauhtemoc.png, Line art of ''Cuauhtémoc''

References

* American Sail Training Association; ''Sail Tall Ships!'' (American Sail Training Association; 16th edition, 2005 )

External links

Official Website of the Mexican Navy

American Sail Training AssociationFour slideshows with Cuauhtémoc from the Tall Ships' Races 2007 in Aarhus, Denmark
by Thorsten Overgaard
The Cuauhtémoc at Hanse Sail 2007 in Warnemünde, Germany
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuauhtemoc (BE01) Auxiliary ships of the Mexican Navy Tall ships of Mexico Ships built in Spain 1982 ships Individual sailing vessels Training ships of the Mexican Navy Barques Windjammers Three-masted ships Sail training ships