NEW LONDON, Conn. – Coast Guard Barque Eagle returned to New London, Conn. Jan. 23 after spending the last three and a half months undergoing dockside maintenance and a foremast overhaul at the Coast Guard Yard facility in Baltimore.

The Eagle will be inport in New London during February and early March conducting crew training and continuing all required annual maintenance. In mid-March, the Eagle will sail along the eastern seaboard conducting training for the Coast Guard and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Officer Candidates. The training deployment will include a port call in Morehead City, NC.

The Eagle will return to New London in early April and will depart for the annual summer deployment in May to train Coast Guard Academy cadets. While in New London in April, the Eagle plans to moor downtown at City Pier.

At 295 feet in length, the Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the stars and stripes and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service.

Constructed in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and originally commissioned as the Horst Wessel by the German Navy, the Eagle was taken by the United States as a war reparation following World War II.

With more than 23,500 square feet of sail and six miles of rigging, the Eagle has served as a classroom at sea to future Coast Guard officers since 1946, offering an at-sea leadership and professional development experience.

A permanent crew of seven officers and 50 enlisted personnel maintain the ship and guide the trainees through an underway and in-port training schedule, dedicated to learning the skills of navigation, damage control, watchstanding, engineering and deck seamanship.

While inport in February, the Eagle will be available for tours at the Ft. Trumbull pier most days from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. For more information, call 860-439-1562.