PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle is scheduled to arrive in Norfolk on Friday and has limited availability for media members to ride the tall ship into port.
Interested media must contact Chief Petty Officer John Miller at john.d.miller@uscg.mil no later than noon on Wednesday to reserve space.
Eagle will be departing from Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, which is located at 4000 Coast Guard Boulevard. Media should be at Base Portsmouth at 9 a.m. The Eagle will leave pierside at 10 a.m. and will arrive at Otter Berth at Town Point Park on Waterside Drive at approximately 11 a.m.
Transportation back to Base Portsmouth from Norfolk cannot be provided. It is strongly recommended that arrangements be made to be dropped off beforehand in Portsmouth and picked up afterward in Norfolk.
The Eagle will also be open for free public tours Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Otter Berth.
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 .