Coast Guard Ship Eagle

I wrote about this vessel earlier today in my Civil War blog, Saw the Elephant http://.sawtheelephant.com. As it went past Fort Fisher on the Cape Fear River, the fort fired a welcoming cannon from its 32-pounder at Sheppard Battery.

The August 6th Wilmington Star-News had an article about it by Amy Hotz. Currently, the ship is in the US Coast Guard and used to train Coast guard and other officer candidates and is based in New London, Connecticut.

It is a 295 foot long, square-rig tall ship, USCGC WIX327. The hull is .4 inch thick and has a raised forecastle and a quarterdeck with 3-inch teak over steel. Under full sail, it can make a top speed of 17 knots (20 mph). One striking feature of the ship is the gold eagle on its bow. It has three masts, the tallest of which is 150 feet high.

The reason I am placing this story here is because of its World War II and subsequent history.

It was built in 1936 in Hamburg, Germany and commissioned as Horst Wessel. Originally used as training vessel for German cadets. Adolph Hitler and Rudolph Hess were present at its launch. Horst Wessel was a Nazi party member killed by Communists.

During World War II, it had eight 20 mm machine guns mounted on it and is credited with shooting down 3 Soviet aircraft and one German. This last plane was determined to be an accident after it was found that the pilot had radioed in the wrong code for his battle group, but it certainly didn't help the man's blood pressure.

After the war, the United States received the Wessel in war reparations.

Interesting Story. --Cooter