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The ARM Cuauhtémoc BE-01Mexican Naval Sailing Ship Photos |
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| Please wait for the page to load, it won't take long. Photos taken in Port Elizabeth - 27-04- 2006 • Photos taken in Melbourne - 27-06-2006 • More information - from Wikipedia
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The Mexican Navy's
270-ft sail training
ship Cuauhtémoc
has docked at Port Elizabeth. |
| Photos taken in Port Elizabeth - 27-04- 2006 |
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Photos taken at Port Elizabeth Harbour 2006 Photos © D Coombe |
| Photos taken in
Melbourne - 27-06-2006 Photos © Sue Lawrence, Frances Henke, Andrew MacKinnon |
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| The Cuauhtémoc in Melbourne - 27-06-2006 |
| Thanks to efforts
initiated by David Aarons, the Mexican consul in Melbourne, the Peninsula
Ship Society had a fantastic day out on Tuesday and, I hope, helped
to make the Cuauhtémoc 's arrival in Melbourne a memorable one. At 5.45 am last Tuesday, a bitterly cold winter's morning, a group of intrepid ship lovers boarded the chartered coach at Hastings for the hour and a half trip up to Melbourne's Station Pier. We picked up more passengers at Mornington and Frankston, filling the 50 seat coach. We arrived at Station Pier soon after dawn, where the ex-Sorrento ferry, Nepean, was waiting to take us out to sea. Still bitterly cold (it never did warm up), but calm and dry, we headed out at 7.30 am - a group of very excited men, women and children. After about 45 minutes, the Cuauhtémoc came into view. She had actually arrived the previous day, but had been waiting at one of the outer anchorages, so that she could dock dead on time. What a magnificent sight she was - even under bare poles. Spotless, with men lining every inch of deck and dressed overall, she really looked the epitome of a sail training ship. We caught up with her and then circled her before falling into station off her starboard beam. One member of our society had prepared a banner that said Welcome in Spanish and which required six people to hold it up. This was arranged when we were close enough for them to read it, the crew looked at it, cheered and raised their hats aloft and then responded by several blasts on the ship's horn. We repeated this a few times during the voyage and each time the response was warm and enthusiastic. Soon after this Victoria's own tall ship, the Enterprize arrived on the scene, adding some colour to the scene, her brown hull contrasting vividly with the spotless white of the Cuauhtémoc - but she looked like a dwarf against the Cuauhtémoc . In convoy, we headed into the port, the Cuauhtémoc initially unfurling her sails (I don't know the term whereby the sails are slightly dropped, so that they look like very attractively arranged open curtains), and then sending all her men up the masts to man the rigging. What an impressive sight - every inch of rigging with a man standing on it with legs and arms akimbo. All too soon it was 10 am and, dead on time, the Cuauhtémoc was tying up at Station Pier just astern of the Tasmania ferry, Spirit of Tasmania 1. At 11 am, we all walked down the Pier, right down to the end and around the foot of it to where the Cuauhtémoc was waiting for us. We had been invited to go aboard, before she opened up to the general public, for a group guided tour. What a magnificent sight awaited us. The ship was totally spick and span, and was kept in that state as everywhere there were men out with their bits of cotton waster polishing anything that gleamed. We were made to feel so very welcome. Splitting up into two groups, we were then taken on the tour, first around the open deck and then into the officer's accommodation - the wardroom, great cabin, chartroom and finally the bridge. The standard of accommodation and fittings would have put shame to any of the world's luxurious liners - polished wood, sumptuous furniture, plaques presented to the ship from all corners of the globe, ultra-modern navigation equipment. She was superb. Finally, the two groups merged again and we were asked to wait by the gangway, which we did for a while - only to be rejoined by our guide (one of two young junior officers who spoke perfect English) who thanked us for visiting his ship and presented us (the Peninsula Ship Society) with a magnificently engraved ship's plaque. This will go up in pride of place on the wall of the Hastings RSL, where we meet. We were overwhelmed by this generosity. It was a truly wonderful day, and on my own behalf (but I know that I am expressing the views of all members of our society), I want to thank David Aarons for setting all this in motion, the Mexican Embassy, and, of course, the ship's captain and company. Mexico can be very, very proud of its ship and its representatives. Susan Lawrence Vice-President Peninsula Ship Society |
| More Information - from Wikipedia |
| Official Name and Number | : | ARM Cuauhtémoc BE-01 |
| Type | : | Barque |
| Hull | : | Steel |
| Builder | : | Astilleros Celaya S.A., Bilbao, Spain |
| Commissioned | : | July 29th,1982 |
| Homeport | : | Acapulco, Mexico |
| Sparred Length | : | 296.9 ft (90.5 m) |
| Length waterline | : | 220 ft 4 in (67.2 m) |
| Beam | : | 39 ft 4 in (12 m) |
| Draft | : | 17.7 ft (5.4 m) |
| Displacement | : | 1,800 tons |
| Sail Area | : | 25,489 sq. ft (2,368 sq. m) |
| Auxiliary Propulsion | : | one 1,125 hp engine |
| Fuel Capacity | : | 220 tons |
| Water Capacity | : | 110 tons |
| Officer / Crew Accommodations | : | 186 |
| Trainee Accommodations | : | 90 |
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The ARM Cuauhtémoc
BE-01 is a Sail Training vessel similar to the USCGC Eagle, designed
to train officers and cadets of the Mexican Navy She is the last of
4 sister ships built by the Naval Shipyards of Bilbao, Spain and named
for the last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc. Cuauhtémoc was captured
by Hernán Cortés and with his execution in 1525, ended Aztec rule of
present day Mexico to Spain. |
