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 ...
Are you and
Aye.
Thank you for that tidbit of history education.
She’s a beautiful ship.
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?
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?
Now that’s a
?
“Fly a Confederate flag from it and then build a wall around it to keep the illegals out”.
I like “Fire at will”.
Bingo!
At one time, when saying the Pledge of Allegiance, everyone held their arms out in what looked like a Nazi salute.
You’ve got to
So if I
How can I
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!
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.
Then you will recognize if
Hey Laz, I’m of German descent. Am I a NAZI?
Are you white?
Then you are a Nazi.
It isn’t so
Stop!
It's ALL OF MATH that is Nazi.
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