Mexican Navy Tall Ship ‘Cuauhtémoc’ to Spend Four Days in San Francisco

Mexico’s navy sail-training vessel Cuauhtémoc is expected to visit San Francisco next month, spending four days welcoming the public at the Embarcadero, Piers 15–17. In May 2025, the 296-ft vessel was departing New York after a goodwill visit when she drifted backward under the Brooklyn Bridge, snapping off all three of her topmasts and killing two crew. After spending several months undergoing repairs and subsequent sea trials at a naval shipyard in New York, Cuauhtémoc returned to her home port in Acapulco, MX. On July 16, more than a year after the accident, the ship and her crew set sail from Acapulco for a three-month “North Pacific” cruise, stopping at Honolulu, HI; Seward, AK; Victoria, Canada; and San Francisco and San Diego, CA.

Cuauhtémoc is carrying 281 passengers — 144 naval cadets (45 women and 99 men) and a crew of 137 (106 men and 31 women) — and is scheduled to sail through the Gate at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, for a four-day goodwill visit.

CEO of Ocean Alliances Alison Healy said of the visit, “The arrival of the Cuauhtémoc will give Bay Area residents a rare opportunity to experience one of Mexico’s most important maritime symbols firsthand. The ship carries a message of peace, goodwill and friendship wherever she sails, and her visit will provide a spectacular sight [in] San Francisco.”

The ship will be open for tours as follows:

• Wednesday, September 23: Noon–5 p.m.

• Thursday, September 24: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.

• Friday, September 25: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.

• Saturday, September 26: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.

As the tour began, Mexico News Daily reported that the US National Transportation Safety Board had issued preliminary findings of their investigation into the Cuauhtémoc accident, identifying three issues: a bent rudder; a possible failure of the variable-pitch propeller (part of the ship’s propulsion system); and the fact that local harbor pilots helping maneuver the ship gave commands in English that were translated into Spanish for the ship’s crew.

Known as Mexico’s “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” the barque-rigged Cuauhtémoc was designed by naval architect Juan José Alonso Verástegui and built in Bilbao, Spain, with her keel being laid in July 1981. She was formally commissioned into the Mexican Navy in Veracruz on September 25, 1982.

Cuauhtémoc will depart San Francisco at 10 a.m. on Sunday, September 27.