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Why is the US still using a Nazi tall ship?
BBC News ^ | 29 July 2015 | James Morgan

Posted on 07/29/2015 7:42:24 AM PDT by Freeport

The Eagle was built by the Nazis and fought for Hitler in World War Two - so how did a tall ship that once flew the swastika end up as a training vessel for new US Coast Guard cadets?

Driving home along the coast of Connecticut one winter's evening, Tido Holtkamp saw a ghost.

There she was - moored in the harbour, her three towering masts, draped with those familiar sails he had rigged back in the German Navy in World War Two.

Her body had been repainted in the red, white and blue of the US, but her curves were unmistakable.

"That's my ship!" shouted Holtkamp, stopping the car. "That's my ship. The Horst Wessel. What in the world is she doing here in America?"

He may be 89 years old now, but the old sailor still twinkles wide-eyed as he recalls that moment back in 1959.

We are sitting in the grand museum of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, not far from the place where the sight of the ship stopped Holtkamp in his tracks.

Above him hangs a carving of a gleaming golden eagle - the original German figurehead of his beloved vessel.

She is docked outside in the bay, with 150 young cadets preparing to jump aboard, climb the rigging and set sail for the Bahamas.

The Eagle is the flagship of the Coast Guard, and the only tall ship on active service in the US military.

Since 1946 every single new cadet undergoing officer training has begun his or her career by learning to sail on her - the old way.


(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: coastguard; eagle; horstwessel; sailingship
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To: GoneSalt

Are you and


61 posted on 07/29/2015 9:08:45 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: Lazamataz

Aye.


62 posted on 07/29/2015 9:10:56 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: elcid1970

Thank you for that tidbit of history education.


63 posted on 07/29/2015 9:12:03 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Let's put the ship of state on Cruz Control with Ted Cruz.)
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To: Freeport

She’s a beautiful ship.


64 posted on 07/29/2015 9:12:04 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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To: Lazamataz

Not a nazi ship, USCG owns her. Arguments about the ships past are moot. The English not only kept enemy ships in service, but would name new ones after the captured ones. I own WWII weapons of all sides, should I not use the axis weapons and just grind them up? Should I throw the french weapons on the ground and wrap them in a white flag?


65 posted on 07/29/2015 9:20:51 AM PDT by Lee Enfield (I identify as rich, cut me a check.)
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To: Lazamataz

Not a nazi ship, USCG owns her. Arguments about the ships past are moot. The English not only kept enemy ships in service, but would name new ones after the captured ones. I own WWII weapons of all sides, should I not use the axis weapons and just grind them up? Should I throw the french weapons on the ground and wrap them in a white flag?


66 posted on 07/29/2015 9:20:51 AM PDT by Lee Enfield (I identify as rich, cut me a check.)
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To: Lazamataz

Now that’s a


?


67 posted on 07/29/2015 9:52:21 AM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Kirkwood

“Fly a Confederate flag from it and then build a wall around it to keep the illegals out”.

I like “Fire at will”.


68 posted on 07/29/2015 9:53:32 AM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Lazamataz
Now that’s a

Bingo!

69 posted on 07/29/2015 9:53:44 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: katana
They must not have been able to find any photos of Eleanor Roosevelt giving a Nazi salute,

At one time, when saying the Pledge of Allegiance, everyone held their arms out in what looked like a Nazi salute.

70 posted on 07/29/2015 10:01:54 AM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Lee Enfield

You’ve got to


71 posted on 07/29/2015 10:03:52 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: laplata

So if I


72 posted on 07/29/2015 10:04:15 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: dfwgator

How can I


73 posted on 07/29/2015 10:04:41 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: Freeport

And on the ship the sailors are taught the same trigonometry Nazis used to find their position.
Nazi trigonometry shouldn’t be taught in the US!
It’s a disgrace!


74 posted on 07/29/2015 10:08:38 AM PDT by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat/RINO Party!)
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To: Lazamataz
It’s still a NAZI SHIP.

Nope! The Krauts do not own her any longer, she's property of the USCG.

I personally know officers is the CG who reflect fondly over memories of sailing her and learning to work as a CG team in so doing. Perhaps you should take the matter up with those who have served on that ship and in our Coast Guard.

I can assure you, the Eagle is an American vessel.

75 posted on 07/29/2015 10:09:41 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Lazamataz

Then you will recognize if


76 posted on 07/29/2015 10:09:41 AM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Lazamataz

Hey Laz, I’m of German descent. Am I a NAZI?


77 posted on 07/29/2015 10:11:41 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: GingisK

Are you white?

Then you are a Nazi.


78 posted on 07/29/2015 10:19:15 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: laplata

It isn’t so


79 posted on 07/29/2015 10:19:48 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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To: mrsmith
And on the ship the sailors are taught the same trigonometry Nazis used to find their position. Nazi trigonometry shouldn’t be taught in the US!

Stop!

It's ALL OF MATH that is Nazi.

80 posted on 07/29/2015 10:21:00 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Republicans are nothing more than "beards" for Democrats.)
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