The Training Ship “Cuauhtémoc” in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Once again in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the grace and elegance of the Mexican training ship “Cuauhtémoc”, an ambassador of the Aztec country with a long-standing friendship with the Canary Islands, makes a frequent stop. This time, it is under the command of Captain Carlos Gorraez Meraz. On this occasion, the Ambassador of the Republic of Mexico in Spain, Roberta Lajous Vargas, travels to Las Palmas and is assisted by the Consul in the Canary Islands, María de los Ángeles Baca.

The training ship is undertaking the instructional cruise named “Northern Europe 2019”, lasting 226 days, during which it plans to visit 15 countries from eleven nations, with the mission, in addition to training, to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the Mexican people and other nations, as well as to carry a message of peace and goodwill in the ports and seas of the world, and to tighten academic and cultural relations among the Armed Forces.

The body of the shield consists of two concentric circles: the outer one, resembling a hemp rope, signifies the working rigging, the main element of the crew in the tasks of setting and hauling the rigging. The inner circle serves to concentrically divide the total circumference of the body. The inner part features the silhouette of the training ship “Cuauhtémoc” from its port side, with all the rigging set, sailing westward, propelled by the wind, representing its first journey to return to its homeland.

In the ring formed by the two circles, there are two inscriptions: one at the top, stating “Armada de Méjico”, the institution of which it is a part, and another at the bottom that reads “Buque Escuela Cuauhtémoc”, its official name. The same ring features, at the eastern point, the figure of the wind god Ehéctal (in Aztec mythology), who with his breath propels the ship westward. At the western point appears the evening twilight Sun; at the northern point, interspersed in the inscription, the celestial bodies that make it possible to constantly know its position. Finally, at the top of the body, the eagle of the national shield, which recalls the origin of the ship and its crew.

Construction number 187 from Astilleros y Talleres Celaya in Bilbao, it is a project by naval engineer Juan José Alonso Verástegui and took shape within a year. On July 29, 1982, the Mexican national flag was raised, and on the following September 18 – commanded by Captain Manuel Zermeño del Peón – it arrived to the cheers of the crowd at the port of Veracruz, where a week later, on September 25, an official event was held presided over by then-President José López Portillo.

This is the fourth and last training ship built at the aforementioned shipyard in Bilbao, which has since closed. Although they are not identical, the series began with the ship “Gloria” for the Navy of the Republic of Colombia; “Guayas” for the Navy of the Republic of Ecuador; and “Simón Bolívar” for the Navy of the Republic of Venezuela, which we especially remember when, during its delivery voyage – commanded by Captain Saúl Chacín Sánchez – it made a stop at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The training ship “Cuauhtémoc” is a beautiful, elegant, and well-proportioned vessel, rigged as a barquentine, with three masts and 23 sails – ten square sails on the main and fore masts and thirteen knife sails – which deploy a sail area of 2,368 square meters. It displaces 1,800 tons and its main dimensions are 90.50 m in length, 12 m in beam, 7.40 m in depth, and 5.40 m in draft. For operations in port and during calm weather, it has a main engine that allows it to maintain a speed of eight knots.

Photo: Nicolás Arocha