The beautiful vessel, with its flags flying in the wind, is a sail training vessel of the Mexican navy, named after the last Mexica Hueyi Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec ruler who was captured and executed in 1525. She is the last of four sister ships built by the naval shipyards of Bilbao, Spain, in 1982, all built to a design similar to the 1930 designs of the German firm Blohm & Voss.

Like her sister ships, Cuauhtémoc is a sailing ambassador for her home country and a frequent visitor to world ports, having sailed more than 700,000km in her years of service, with appearances at ASTA Tall Ship Challenges, Sail Osaka, the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races and more.