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Coast Guard Cutter Eagle returns to Norfolk

Posted at 11:02 AM, Apr 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-06 11:28:20-04

NORFOLK, Va. – The Coast Guard Cutter Barque Eagle returned to Norfolk on Friday, April 6!

An MH-65 “Dolphin” helicopter flies with the U.S. Coast Guard barque Eagle in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, July 30, 2015. The barque Eagle is the only active commissioned sailing vessel in American military service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Auxiliarist David Lau)

At 295 feet in length, the Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the stars and stripes and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service.

Constructed in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and originally commissioned as the Horst Wessel by the German Navy, the Eagle was taken by the United States as a war reparation following World War II.

The summer 2018 deployment spans eight months and 20 ports, including Barbados, Santa Domingo, San Juan, Roatán, Cartagena, and Curacao.

With more than 22,300 square feet of sail and six miles of rigging, the Eagle has served as an afloat classroom to future Coast Guard officers since 1946. A permanent crew of eight officers and 50 enlisted personnel maintain the ship and train up to 150 cadets at a time in the skills of navigation, damage control, engineering, and deck seamanship.

While in Norfolk, the ship will be open to the public for tours. It will be docked at Nauticus until Sunday, April 9.

Tours are open to the public on Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday, DOD, DHS and First Responders are welcome aboard.

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