NEW LONDON - A very special “Welcome Home Ceremony” for one of the most important ships in the United States Coast Guard fleet, which has been home ported in New London since 1946.
A man, who is a former skipper of the Barque Eagle cutter, retired Admiral Robert Papp, the 24th commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, discussed this tall ship’s importance to the Coast Guard.
“There are very few ways that you can take large groups of cadets and train them at sea,” Papp said. “If we had to do it on conventional Coast Guard cutters, we would be able to fit two or three on a Coast Guard Cutter. Here we can take about 140 cadets at one time and actually provide all of them with legitimate work to do and leadership opportunities while we are out at sea.”
The ship has trained more than 10,000 cadets and over 2,000 officers in training.
The Eagle, now in its 74th summer in service to the Coast Guard, was homeported at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore for the last five years to receive extensive repairs, including in berthing areas, bunks and restrooms.
The Barque Eagle will serve as a pier-side exhibit for the future National Coast Guard Museum, which is going to be constructed along the City Pier.