Tall Ship Eagle Coming To Newport's Fort Adams Tuesday

NEWPORT, RI — "America's Tall Ship," the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle, will sail into Fort Adams on Tuesday, May 8. Admission to Fort Adams is free for the Volvo Race stopover.

"Eagle's visit coincides with the Volvo Ocean Race Opening Ceremony and Sail Newport, and will include pier-side public tours," the Coast Guard said.

The tall ship is something to see.

"The Eagle is a three-masted barque with more than 22,300 square feet of sail and six miles of rigging," the Coast Guard said in a press release. "At 295-feet in length, Eagle is the largest tall ship in United States government service. Constructed in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and originally commissioned as the Horst Wessell by the German Navy, Eagle was a war reparation for the United States following World War II."

Since 1946, Eagle has been used as a classroom-at-sea for future officers. It also appears with other tall ships during parades of sail.

Photo Courtesy US Coast Guard