The arrival of the Mexican sail-training barque Cuauhtemoc in Melbourne on June 27, 2006, was greeted by the topsail schooner Enterprize. The tall three-masted vessel towered over the little Enterprize, which is a replica of the first vessel to bring settlers to Melbourne. The Cuauhtemoc is a training vessel of the Mexican Navy and had 261 fourth-year trainee officers aboard for the round-the-world cruise. Of these, 53 were women.
The cruise, which began and ended at Acapulco in Mexico, was from December 2005 to September 2006, with the vessel and her crew visiting 14 ports. On the passage to Cape Horn she called at four ports on the west coast of South America. Cape Horn lived up to its reputation and the young trainee officers experienced a cold, wet day with a high breaking sea and strong wind as they passed it under reduced sail. They were very happy to be able to now call themselves ‘Cape Horners’.
Passing north up the east coast of South America, three stops were made before heading across the South Atlantic to South Africa. Two ports were visited there before crossing the Indian Ocean to Australia, where visits were made to Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Stops were made at only Auckland and Tahiti in crossing the Pacific to her home port on the west coast of Mexico. The visit in June 2006 was the first the vessel had made to Melbourne, but she returned for a second visit in October 2024.
Built in Spain and delivered to the Mexican Navy in July 1982, Cuauhtemoc is the last of four sister ships, which are owned by the navies of Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela. In the 44 years since joining the Mexican Navy, the barque has sailed more than 800,000 nautical miles and visited more than 200 ports. She made two previous circumnavigations before 2006 but has not made one since, although her voyaging is equivalent to 35 trips around the world.
In May 2025 the Cuauhtemoc was in the news when she struck the Brooklyn Bridge and about 20 of her crew were injured – four seriously – and two later died.
MAURIE HUTCHINSON
President, Peninsula Ship Society
T: 9787 5780
E: mauriehutch@gmail.com
The Peninsula Ship Society meets at Hastings Yacht Club at 10.00am on the fourth Tuesday of each month (except November and December). Visitors are always welcome.
