It has changed significantly from my cadet cruise in 1974 - sleeping was in old canvas hammocks strung up in the mess deck that had to be taken down when it came time for meals. Showers were cold sea water only. Toilets were a row of seats on a pipe with sea water running thru it - no privacy. Still, it was an enjoyable and unique experience
I was on her in 1974.Permanent crew one of fifteen MK3.Sure looks different below decks and I noticed the anchor winch is gone on the forecastle.All new hatches and portholes that are watertight it looks like.Also the cadet berthing area seems to be compartmentalized without having this huge open compartment.It was always a concern if we would take on water with those leaky portholes and coming in from the waste.The 1936 MAN diesel is gone.Was replaced by a Caterpillar and now by a MTU.The outside is still there but everything else has been redone.
Hi Eagle Crew! Thanks for the tour of this grand ship. I had the lucky privilege of serving on a short "cadet" training trip from New London to Halifax and back while at Officer Candidate School in 1986. Definitely one of the highlights of my lifetime. Hats off to all of you! Semper Paratus. Jim Mayors, LCDR (Ret)
Thank you for the excellent tour. As retired Army, I don't have any experience dealing with the Coast Guard on active duty, other than they did some port security operations in Desert Shield, and in Arifijan in Kuwait right before Iraq invasion. However, I can definitely appreciate the work of the two personnel (I'm not even clear what a BM2 and a BM3 is, but I can tell it isn't an E-2 or E-3) when they climbed the rigging to get to the top. I got vertigo just watching. I remember going through Army Air Assault school, and rappelling off the 45 tower, and then later out of the Blackhawk at 90 feet, and I had some problems with fear of heights to overcome. You guys made it look so easy!, especially at 01:48 when he transitioned from the rope to the platform. I saw where she had a D-clamp, but it didn't look like she used it all the time, and I didn't see him use it at all. Hats off to the entire active duty crew, you guys look like a well oiled machine. Much respect.
It has changed so much since I was permanent enlisted crew in 1988-89! You may not believe me, but the cadet berthing area did not have any kind of privacy, and some even slept on hammocks slung between stacks of racks.
Captain, thank you for the historic tour. I once had the privilege of visiting that aft cabin, at the dock in New London. The history can be felt in there. There was a story of Hitler damaging a bulkhead by throwing French wine at it, but it was shared with me that that was the only thing in the cabin that wasn't original. The CO at the time was captain Kelly, and he signed a photo of Eagle for me that hangs in my office today. The work you do with our young Cadets is excellent. The personnel I've met aboard Eagle exemplify what's great about our Country. My grandkids live nearby, in Waterford, and I hope to someday get the opportunity to show them America's tall ship! Well done!
In the summer of 1999, I was a volunteer crewman on the Barque Star of India, the flagship of the San Diego Maritime Museum. The Star of India is the oldest operating ship in the world, having been built in 1864 on the Isle of Man in the UK. That summer we had the opportunity to sail in Company with Eagle for a couple of days. The Eagle's Commanding Officer was aboard Star on one of those days and he was very impressed at how well we sailed the ship with a small all-volunteer crew. It was an experience I will never forget.
I was lucky enough to be serving on HMAS ADELAIDE in 1988 when many of the worlds tall ships - including of course EAGLE - came to Australia for our Bicentennnial celebrations. We were "host ship" for the Ecuadorian sail training ship GUAYAS...and had a great time... I have some wonderful photos from that gathering. Following those celebrations the fleet was meant to "race" under sail to Hobart... A distinct lack of wind was a problem so (given schedules to keep) most largely motored there. We were dashing around on the way south and came across the GUAYAS as she was still trying to "sail"... we approached at over 20 knots..and she sent us a signal by light saying "You are doing very well in this race" LOL
I was there on Eagle. Man, what a great time we all had. OZ was a wonderful country back then...it's like everybody was on the same team. People would meet you and the next thing you know, you were eating dinner at their house. They were a free, fun-loving people with a healthy resistance to authority. What happened?
Awfully noisy! I guess you'd get used to it. I'd love to see them actually unfurl the sails! That really looked dangerous '" despite" D-ringing yourself in. Takes a lot of guts, proud of every Coastie that goes up!
This is my Atlantic crossing on the tall ship Eagle (photos for Nat Geo): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q2wZrTxifCM.html Enjoy. (We had one four-day run wherein we did 1,000 nautical miles, hitting speeds of over 15 knots.)
When was teenager my uncle was stationed at constitution 35 years ago. Went to birthday party. 1000 people told everyone look under place mat I had nothing guy beside me left so they told me to look cause I was young. Won door knocker shape of anchor made out of brass of original stuff off it. Uss. constitution .
I'm Navy. There have been times when I think joining the Coast Guard would've been a better choice. The CG provides a lot more assignment possibilities than the Navy. Ice breakers going to the Antarctic and Great Lakes, cutters doing drug interdiction, life saving, and, perhaps, being assigned to Eagle. Captain, your story on the acquisition was very interesting. It reminded me of a video I recently watched on the US acquiring the German Battle Cruiser Prinz Eugen. She was originally crewed by US and German sailors with the Germans gradually being sent home. I will comment on the racks. We had triple racks, but our lockers were actually alongside us. There were 2 lockers. That meant that we could prop open our lockers and have full access to them without having to get out of our rack. During my time in, 1968-'72, we weren't allowed to have civvies below paygrade E-7. That changed in '72. Personally, I loved wearing my uniform in port, especially my blues. In later years the vertical lockers were added to the ship and I think most had their racks changed to the type you showed, Fair Winds and Following Seas. 🫡