PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle is scheduled to arrive Wednesday in Portsmouth and will be open for public tours Thursday.The service’s famous tall ship is scheduled to be moored Wednesday behind Portsmouth City Hall, located at 801 Crawford St., by about 2 p.m.
The Eagle will be open for free public tours Thursday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service will have the new Coast Guard Forever stamp available and offer a special cancellation on the pier from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.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.To follow the Eagle’s summer cruise, visit the ship’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CoastGuardCutterEagle .