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 ...
A little goes a long way.
lulz
Tell the survivors of the USS Reuben James that their shipmates were not killed by a Nazi u-boat.
I was thinking about becoming a Nazi but I found out by looking at history that they were not very nice .
I found out the were really bad like Jews and Christians.</insane>
This is my official position on this dumb ass article about a really sweet yacht.
I liked the article but, the head line is dumb.
Inanimate objects cannot be Nazis.
What about cats?
<><><><
All cats are Nazis.
But then
The non-Aryan ships just weren't tall enough.
The Eagle NEVER torpedoed an allied ship, or any ship for that matter.
The U-Boat that sunk the USS Reuben James was crewed by NAZIS. The sub did not sink the RJ, the NAZIS did.
Be advised that your argument is the same as "guns cause crimes".
I know. She must never have done that either. Not very surprising, if you ask me. :-)
When WWII veteran Alden Rigby died earlier this year, the headline read, “He shot down 4 Nazi planes in half an hour.” It shouln’t have been written that way because planes, being inanimate objects, are incapable of having political beliefs.
She was a Socialist/Progressive. Nasty woman.
I was just stating the fact that at one time people raised their arms to the flag while saying the pledge.
And I know some of the history of the salute. Mussolini revived it as it was how Romans saluted, and his Fascist movement was based on restoring Italy to its old Roman imperial days. Hitler admired Mussolini and adopted it for the National Socialist German Workers Party.
Roman republican and imperial symbolism is an interesting subject, bringing in everything from fasces (the bundle of sticks surrounding an axe) that used to appear on American dimes to the neo-classical architecture of Washington, D.C. and most State capitals. Using the Roman republican salute during the pledge was replaced with hand over the heart gesture all but the very oldest among us grew up with.
Agreed.
Some of the Nazi marching songs were derived from American college fight songs.
Oh for Pete’s sake, who gives a rat’s *ss.
“That’s right. FDR recalled Joe Kennedy as the Ambassador to the Court of St. James because he was too sympathetic to the Nazis.”
I think even more so as a slap at the Brits...some rum (scotch) running Irishman who lacked diplomacy appointed as the US ambassador...
And to think, VW just surpassed Toyota as the largest seller of cars - in the world.
USS Constitution is a Museum Ship, not an active warship, apparently.
/Navy, I had the same thought.
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