BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle is scheduled to arrive at Pier 4 at the Charleston Navy Yard on Thursday, July 23, as part of the 2015 cadet summer training deployment.
EAGLE will be open for free public tours:
Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
At 295 feet in length, the Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the American flag 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 Barque spans 17 weeks, stopping at 14 port calls in three countries, with six different groups of cadets and officer candidates training onboard.
Once in Boston, Eagle will be finishing up with training cadets and will be transitioning to training swabs (incoming freshman at the Coast Guard Academy) and officer candidates. 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.
From Boston, Eagle will set sail to New York City for her port call July 31 to Aug. 3. To follow Eagle’s summer cruise, visit the ship’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/CoastGuardCutterEagle