PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle is scheduled to arrive Thursday at Penn’s Landing at approximately 4 p.m. as part of the 2015 cadet summer training deployment.
The Eagle will be open for free public tours Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 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, Eagle was taken by the United States as a war reparation following World War II.
With more than 23,500 square feet of sail and six miles of rigging, Eagle has served as a classroom at sea for future Coast Guard officers since 1946, offering an at-sea leadership and professional development experience. Currently, there are 150 cadets from the Coast Guard Academy embarked. The summer deployment for the Eagle spans 17 weeks, stopping at 14 port calls in three countries, with six different groups of cadets and officer candidates training aboard.
A permanent crew of eight officers and 57 enlisted personnel maintain the ship and guide the cadets through an underway and in-port training schedule, dedicated to learning the skills of navigation, damage control, watchstanding, engineering and deck seamanship.
To follow Eagle’s summer cruise, visit the ship’s Facebook page.