America's Tall Ship: Eagle (WIX 327)

I've had a recent fascination with tall ships since I moved to the Oregon Coast. I first learned about the replica of the cir. 1750 freight vessel, Lady Washington, now the offical ship of the State of Washington. (It is also the ship they used as the Interceptor in the Pirates of the Carribean movies.) The Lady Washington, visits our area with the Hawaiian Chieftain each year to give rides and perform battle re-enactments. I always love seeing them when I can.

The Lady Washington returning from a battle sail with the Hawaiian Chieftain on the Columbia River

This year I was a little bummed because I didn't get to see them this year, however I had a pleasant surprise when my wife called on the cell phone to tell me there was a huge tall ship docked next to the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast. I quickly went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum's viewer-guided web cam to take a look. The first thing I noticed was the Orange Racing stripe with the Coast Guard seal and I got excited: It was the real version of the painting on the wall in my office of the Coast Guard training bargue--The Eagle!




The USCG Eagle (WIX 327) was a German Training vessel (SNS Horst Wessel) built in 1936. After WWII it became a war prize for the United States. In 1946, the United States Coast Guard commisioned it as the Eagle to continue to serve as a training vessel.

The Eagle--full sail (phot0 from the USCG website)

The three-masted Eagle is 295 feet long (docked next to the 210-ft Cutter Steadfast), almost 40 feet widewith , a displacement of 1,784 tons fully loaded and draft of.

With its 21,350 feet of sail and five miles of rigging, the Eagle can sail a maximum of 17 knots by wind power. Compare this to the 10 knots maximum speed with its diesel engine.

Cadets training on the Eagle must handle more than 200 lines of rope and learn each one. (Daily Astorian)

Up to 46 crew members, 175 cadets and instructors under the direction of 19 officers "learn the ropes."

Steering is the rudder is all mechanical, so up to six people power the steering (two on each wheel.)

For how much use the Eagle has had over the last 72 years it is in very good shape. Its almost 1/2-inch thick steel hull and three-inch teak wood-covered steel decks are well maintained. In fact, one of the crew members mentioned to us that prior to sailing to Astoria, Oregon from the Eastern Coast of the United States, it went through some reconditioning

Looking at the Eagle was a neat experience for me--in fact I went on the self-guided tour twice. One of the interesting things to me about going on the ship was seeing that the shell was designed like a early era tall-ship, yet it has all the technology of a modern ship--electricity, radar, sonar, computers, etc. It was interesting how they mixed old technology with new while still maintaining respect for the history of the Horst Wessel.

The kids enjoyed the tour too, they were able to get a collectible (plastic) coin for taking the tour. There was even a ships wheel at the stern of the ship, safely disengaged, that the kids were able to wiggle around a little.

Most of the information came from the United State Coast Guard website. The Daily Astorian article reprinted on the Goast Guard website was also fun to read. Information on the web is also available for the Lady Washington and other tall ships.