Coast Guard’s Eagle sailing ship will mark 80th year with port calls celebrating 250th anniversary of nation’s founding

The U.S. Coast Guard’s oldest ship will celebrate the anniversary of its commissioning and the birthday of the United States during a busy sailing schedule in 2026, the service announced.

The USCGC Eagle will celebrate 80 years since it was commissioned into the Coast Guard on May 16, 1946. Launched in 1936 as the Nazi training ship Horst Wessel, it was obtained by the United States after World War II as a war prize, refurbished and put into service as the main training vessel for Coast Guard Academy cadets. Hundreds of Coast Guard officers received their introduction to seafaring aboard the Eagle. Details of the celebration of its 80th anniversary are to be determined.

The barque — the name for a type of steel-hulled three-masted ship — will keep a busy schedule as the United States celebrates the 250th year since the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It will take part in five Sail250 events marking the national birthday in New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, New York City and Boston. In the last stop, it will be in port along with the nation’s oldest ship — and the only other sailing vessel currently on active duty — the USS Constitution, nicknamed “Old Ironsides.”

For the first time since the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, the Eagle will join with its “sister ships,” Mircea, Sagres and Gorch Fock, all sailing ships built by Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. The four ships will race between New York City and Boston on July 9.

The Mircea was built for the Nazi-allied Romanian Navy, captured by the Soviets, and then returned to Romania.

The Sagres was launched in 1937 as the Albert Leo Schlageter, a Nazi training ship, taken by the United States after World War II and sold to Brazil in 1948, which then sold it to Portugal in 1961.

The Grand Fock is a 1958 replica of a Nazi ship of the same name, captured by the Soviets and later returned to Germany to become a museum ship. The second Gorch Fock serves as a training ship for the German navy.

“It is an immense honor for the Coast Guard Barque Eagle and crew to participate in the Sail250 festivities and celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation,” said Capt. Kristopher Ensley, commanding officer of Eagle. “This voyage not only serves as a vital training experience for the next generation of Coast Guard officers but also allows us to share America’s proud maritime heritage with the public.”