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 ...
“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!”
I learned navigation and how to determine my ‘GPS’ using a Plath Sextant...and that sextant had a Swastika on it...obviously a German navy sextant at one time. It was a small sextant, easily handled and easy to shot celestial bodies and reduce sights. Latitude can be determined without accurately knowing the exact time, but to determine longitude requires precise time.
Yep.
Think long and hard, unless you are a liberal who likes to post here on FR. Advocating getting rid of the Eagle because of its history is exactly the same thing as trying to bad guns because they kill. It is NEVER about the tool. The issue is always the user.
Hans Landa was an amazing character.
he Horst Wessel is a Hitlerite ship.
Das boot don’t exist na moore.
?????
Are the Brits making a distinction between a commissioned ship that still puts to sea with an active duty crew and active duty? Or do they prefer to forget the USS Constitution. Long time to hold a grudge.
Engagement between U.S. Frigate Constitution and the British Frigate Java, 12/29/1812
In dry dock now, won't be sailing again till 2017
See my post 107. She’s commissioned, and the crew are active duty. And she goes to sea, I don’t see the distinction.
I'm pretty sure this is mandatory now.
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