Sail Training Ship Eagle
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This image is copyrighted by the artist and all reproduction rights are held by the U. S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association. Reproduction or other use without the permission of both parties is strictly prohibited.
Theme Sail Training Ship Eagle
Period 1946—indefinite future
Artist Robert Semler, Bradenton, Florida
Size (framed) 4’-2” wide x 3’-2” high
Champion Bill Avery, Class of 1962
Sponsor Class of 1950
Story Eagle, the largest tall ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only square-rigger in U.S. government service, is the seventh U.S. Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a proud line dating back to 1792. The ship was built in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned as Horst Wessel, one of three sail training ships operated by Nazi Germany to train cadets for the growing German Navy. Five identical ships were built in Germany and are collectively known as the “five sisters”, they include: Tovarisch (Russia), Sagres II (Portugal), Mircea (Romania), and Gorch Fock II (Germany).
Following World War II, Horst Wessel was taken as a war prize by the United States. A U.S. Coast Guard crew — aided by the German crew still on board — sailed the tall ship in 1946 from Bremerhaven to its new homeport at the Coast Guard Academy.
Since 1946, Eagle has served as a seagoing classroom for future officers of the Coast Guard. A seasoned permanent crew of six officers and 29 enlisted personnel maintain the ship year round and provide a strong base of knowledge and seamanship for the training of up to 150 cadets or officer candidates at a time. It is on the decks and in the rigging of the Eagle that these young men and women get their first taste of salt air and life at sea. The experience helps them to develop skills of leadership and teamwork, as well as a healthy respect for the elements that will serve them for a lifetime. They are tested and challenged, often to the limits of their endurance; working aloft, they meet fear and learn to overcome it. The training they receive under sail has proven to be a valuable asset to generations of U.S. Coast Guard officers throughout their careers.