ARM Cuauhtemoc (BE01)

History

In 1970, the Mexican Navy raised funds to build a ship to train cadets at the Mexican Naval Academy. Unlike the expensive ships of the U.S. fleet and other fleets, some countries have purchased cheaper "wind jammers" to allow their future naval officers to understand and feel the wind and sails of the high seas. The chosen designer and shipbuilder is Astilleros Celaya S.A. from Bilbao, Spain, who has built tall ships for other South American navies - Gloria in Colombia (1968), Guayas in Equator (1977) and Simon in Venezuela Bolivar (1980).

The Spanish company was commissioned by the Mexican government to use their three-masted barge, the ARM Cuauhtemoc (BE01), which was finally commissioned on July 29, 1982.

Cuauhtemoc (meaning "diving eagle") is named after the last Aztec emperor who fought and expelled the Spanish conquistador Herman Cortes on June 30, 1520 The ancient city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). Cortes regrouped and later recaptured the city, executing Cuautmorque in 1525.

The ship's puppet became an homage to the last great Aztec emperor, whose headdress was an emerald eagle covered in golden leaves, a weapon in his right hand and flames spewing from his feet.

The Mexican barge is 220 ft 4 in (67.2 m) long, beam (or breadth) 39 ft 4 in (12.1 m), and her draft (or depth) is 17 ft 7 in (5.4 m) in the water. She turned out to be a 1,800 ton (standard) vessel designed with two modes of transport - sail power and diesel. Under mechanical power, the engine produces 1,125 horsepower on a single shaft and can reach a top speed of 10 knots. She has 220 tons of diesel and 110 tons of fresh water in a tank below deck because her cargo hold is too small for a real water purification system.

Food and fresh water supplies are the limiting factors that attract them to the port in search of supplies.

Cuauhtemoc becomes a three-masted steel barge. Their sailing plan begins with the bowsprit, a pole or mast that extends forward from the bow. The bowsprit provides an anchor point for the drop line and allows the foremast to be installed as far forward as possible in the design. The main mast is 38 meters high and rises above the deck, and the sails are arranged using traditional barge rigging, which itself is more complex than the rigging of modern tall ships.

The foremast is the first mast closest to the bow and the second tallest. This assembly is followed by the main mast, which is mounted at the middle and top of the three masts. The third and final mast of the ship is the shortest of the three and is called the mizzen mast. All masts are square and have sails fore and aft. Her mast and mast are made of steel and aluminium, allowing for a taller, lighter mast that reduces sail area for maximum propulsion.

On her three masts, she carried 2,368 m (25,498 sq ft) of sail and 90.5 m (296.9 ft) of aluminium rafters/yard length.

Cuauhtemoc staff changed as needed, mostly depending on the mission. Some cruise ships carry 35 officers and 120 soldiers and 80 cadets, while others have only 10 officers, 70 cadets, 37 soldiers, 3 marines, 10 civilians, and sometimes their own band members.

While their primary responsibility was training Naval Academy cadets, it proved to be the perfect vehicle for Cuauhtemoc to be Mexico's ambassador to the world while displaying the flag.

To this end, Cuauhtemoc served as a training ship for a total of 27 cadet courses and conducted 28 cruises at 147 ports of call in 94 countries around the world. She has circumnavigated the globe three times for a total of 532,796 miles. She attended the 2012 Fleet Week visit to New York City.

Specification

Basic

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Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing