page_title: USCGC Eagle (WIX-327)
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: USCGC Eagle (WIX-327) / Design
caption_attribution_description: Galionsfigur der USCG Eagle, aufgenommen während ihres Aufenthaltes in Bremerhaven
context_page_description: USCGC Eagle (WIX-327), formerly the Horst Wessel and also known as the Barque Eagle, is a 295-foot barque used as a training cutter for future officers of the United States Coast Guard. She is one of only two active commissioned sailing vessels in the United States military today, along with USS Constitution which is ported in the Boston Harbor. She is the seventh Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a line dating back to 1792, including the Revenue Cutter Eagle.
  Each summer, Eagle deploys with cadets from the United States Coast Guard Academy and candidates from the Officer Candidate School for periods ranging from a week to two months. These voyages fulfill multiple roles. The primary mission is training the cadets and officer candidates, but the ship also performs a public relations role for the Coast Guard and the United States. Often, Eagle makes calls at foreign ports as a goodwill ambassador.
  The ship was built as the German sail training ship Horst Wessel in 1936; it served to train German sailors in sail techniques until decommissioned at the start of World War II. The vessel was given anti-aircraft armament and re-commissioned in 1942.
context_section_description: Eagle is slightly larger than her sister ship Gorch Fock. Overall Eagle displaces 1,824 tons. The hull is riveted Krupp steel four-tenths of an inch thick (10 mm). There are two full-length steel decks with a platform deck below. The raised forecastle and quarterdeck are made of quarter inch steel overlaid with 3 inches (76 mm) of teak, as are the weather decks. Her current auxiliary diesel engine, at 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), is still somewhat less powerful than that of Gorch Fock at 1,690 horsepower (1,260 kW), though Eagle's original diesel auxiliary engine managed only 750 horsepower (560 kW). There are two 320 kW (430 hp) Caterpillar generators that can be run by themselves or in parallel together. Eagle has a range of 5,450 nautical miles (10,000 km) at her cruising speed of 7.5 knots (14 km/h) under diesel power. She carries a reverse osmosis system that replenishes the ship's fresh water supply at sea.
  Eagle has a three-masted barque sailing rig, with two masts fully rigged with 'square sails' and one mast with only 'fore-and-aft' sails. The large sail area of the 'square sails' provide much of the power while the 'fore-and-aft' sails enable superior maneuverability. The ship has over 6 miles (9.7 km) of running rigging and approximately 22,280 square feet (2,070 m²) of sail area. To protect sails from chafing, Eagle uses baggywrinkle extensively. The top three yards of the fore- and main masts are moveable, and are kept lowered when not sailing to lower the ship's center of gravity. In addition, the top portion of the fore- and main masts, known as the topgallant masts, may be housed (lowered) by 13 ft when not under sail in order to sail underneath low bridges. Eagle's fastest point of sail is when her yards are braced sharp (or pivoted as much as they can be) and the relative wind (the wind you feel standing on the ship as it moves) is approximately 5-10 degrees aft of the windward leech of the sail. When fully braced, Eagle can sail about 75 degrees off of the true wind. Eagle's propeller shaft can also be de-clutched from the engine so the propeller can freewheel, thus lessening drag while under sail.
  The main helm station, also known as the triple helm, is connected via mechanical shaft linkage to the steering gear located in the "captain's coffin" on the fantail along with the emergency, or "trick" wheel (also referred to as aft steering). Three turns of the main helm station equal one degree of rudder turn. That is why six persons are used to steer during heavy weather and while operating in restricted waterways. The emergency, or "trick" wheel is a single wheel that turns at a rate of one revolution to one degree of rudder turn. It thus requires more force to turn.
  The ship has undergone numerous refits since she was acquired by the Coast Guard in 1946. Sometime during the 1950s, Captain Carl Bowman replaced Eagle's split spanker on the mizzenmast with a single sail. During the 1980s, under Captain David Wood, the split spanker was returned as it afforded reduced weather helm and allowed the helmsman to turn away (or 'fall off') from the wind more easily.
  On 27 January 1967, Eagle departed the Coast Guard Yard maintenance facility at Curtis Bay (near Baltimore, Maryland). On a foggy afternoon with little visibility, she traveled toward the Chesapeake Bay at 6 knots (11 km/h). Shortly after 1:30 PM Eagle collided with the motor vessel Philippine Jose Abad Santos. Fortunately, nobody on either ship was injured. Eagle returned to the shipyard and underwent repairs.
  On 1 July 1972, the ship was returning to her berth at the Coast Guard Academy in New London at the midpoint of her annual summer cadet training deployment when she was involved in another serious accident. Despite extensive precautions, as the ship passed below the Gold Star Memorial Bridge and a new twin bridge being built parallel to it, her foremast and mainmast caught on some safety netting slung below the new bridge that had not been fully secured. Both masts were snapped off above the crosstrees (about seven-eighths of the way up each mas
caption: Eagle's Coast Guard figurehead
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