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 ...
Why not? To the victor goes the spoils.
Because we can.
If its being put to good use, who cares.
:-)
‘zackly.
The same reason there are Iraqi tanks on nearly every Army base in America...
Because we can.
That’s right.
This is a BBC piece.
Hey Brits-the Yanks saved your a$$es-that’s why.
Shove it, BBC, up your left wing Obamaholes.
Wann'a know how to think of and assimilate things like this?
Look down on your own hands and picture when they were sixteen or 20 .... remember what they did ?
Pretty neat, huh ?
And here you are ... a hundred years later, all politicked up !
Because we kicked their ass.
Because we like to remind ourselves who won.
What a great tradition! Keep it going!
There’s a long history of using captured vessels in many Navies. For example, the UK used captured US ships in its navy following the War of 1812. Ships are expensive, so it makes sense to reuse them.
Ban the Volkswagen.
barky would like to give it back.
Exactly!
Weren’t the Nazi’s a political party? Why is it always anything Germany built after the Nazi’s came to power as Nazi’s built it? Like the German soldiers - they’re always depicted as “Nazi soldiers”, etc. Just wondering not making a case. Thanks in advance.
‘Cause the Krauts built a damn fine ship, and the USCG can put her to good use.
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