The Tall Ship Eagle Gives History Lessons at Sea
It is, largely, a symbol: 295 feet of what once was a time capsule for the public to come aboard, to touch, to think of a world where power came from the wind, and every inch of travel had to be earned.
But it is time to leave port, time for the Coast Guard cutter Eagle to make its transition from symbol to ship, to become what it really is: a teacher.
Eagle, like the other tall ships that will arrive in Boston Saturday for Operation Sail 2012, is a training vessel, a way for countries to teach their future maritime leaders how the ocean works when the best tools available are sweat, elbow grease, and experience.
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Tall ships set sail
With more than a million people expected to visit Boston’s waterfront for the tall ships event, including a mock battle in the harbor and a July Fourth extravaganza, Eagle will be one of the most-visited attractions. It is one of two sailing vessels in active commission in the US military, and on July 4 it will escort the other, USS Constitution, as it makes its annual turnaround.
OpSail is the latest in a series of tall ships events dating back decades, efforts to give the public access to past and present-day warships and experience history up close. In May 1963, President John F. Kennedy, an enthusiastic sailor, said: “The sight of so many ships gathered from the distant corners of the world should remind us that strong, disciplined, and venturesome men still can find their way safely across uncertain and stormy seas.”
Eagle is, despite its very American name, in fact, German in origin; it was built in Hamburg in 1936, and Adolf Hitler attended its christening. The United States took ownership as a war reparation in 1946, but had to rely on its German crew and captain to sail it to its new home port in New London, Conn.