The USCGC EAGLE is the seventh U.S. Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a proud line dating back to an original Revenue Cutter built in 1792. This Eagle was built in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and originally commissioned as Horst Wessel in 1936.

Originally operated by Nazi Germany to train cadets for the German Navy, the ship was a reparation for the United States after World War II. In 1946, a U.S. Coast Guard crew - aided by the German crew still on board - sailed the tall ship from Bremerhaven to its new homeport in New London, Connecticut. Eagle returned to Bremerhaven for the first time since World War II in the summer of 2005, to an enthusiastic welcome.

Built during the twilight era of sail, the design and construction of EAGLE embody centuries of development in the shipbuilder’s art. The hull is steel, four-tenths of an inch thick. There are two full-length steel decks with a platform deck below. The raised forecastle and quarterdeck are made of three-inch thick teak over steel, as are the weather decks. EAGLE eagerly takes to the elements for which she was designed. Effortlessly and gracefully, she drives under full sail in the open ocean at speeds up to 17.5 knots.

The Coast Guard Academy was originally founded in 1876 when nine students boarded the Revenue Cutter Dobbin. A series of cutters followed the Dobbin and, in 1932, a permanent shore facility was established at its present site on land donated by the New London community. Approximately 1,000 men and women attend the Academy each year, all of whom will sail at one time or another on America’s only active duty square-rigger 

EAGLE offers future officers the opportunity to put into practice the navigation, engineering, and other professional theory they have learned in the classroom. Upper class trainees exercise leadership and service duties normally handled by junior officers, while underclass trainees fill crew positions of a junior enlisted person, such as helm watches at the huge wooden wheels used to steer the vessel. Everyone who trains on Eagle experiences a character building experience.

To maneuver EAGLE under sail, the crew must handle more than 22,000 square feet of sail and five miles of rigging. Over 200 lines control the sails and yards; every crewmember, cadet and officer candidate must become intimately familiar with the name, operation, and function of each line.

A permanent crew of eight officers and 50 enlisted personnel maintain the ship year round. They provide a strong base of knowledge and seamanship for the training of up to 150 cadets or officer candidates at a time.

On the decks and in the rigging of EAGLE, young men and women get a taste of salty air and life at sea. They are tested and challenged, often to the limits of endurance. Working aloft, they meet fear and learn to overcome it. The experience builds character and helps future officers develop leadership and teamwork skills that prove valuable throughout their careers.