Tour a tall ship in Salem this weekend
Want to tour a tall ship this weekend?
Head to Salem, where the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle will offer free public tours.
The 295-foot long ship was last in Salem 14 years ago. The ship is in town for the 2016 cadet summer training deployment. It has served as a classroom-at-sea to future Coast Guard officers since 1946 and up to 150 cadets are trained at a time in the skills of navigation, damage control, watch-standing, engineering, and deck seamanship.
The ship has more than 23,500 square feet of sail and 6 miles of rigging. A permanent crew of six officers and 55 enlisted personnel maintain the vessel. Salem is one of 11 ports worldwide where trainings on the Eagle will take place. The ship’s route, which includes ports in Bermuda and Europe, is similar to the one it sailed when it first came to the United States 70 years ago, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The ship is the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. It was built in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany and was originally commissioned as the Horst Wessel by the German Navy. The U.S. took the ship as a war reparation following World War II.
Tour the ship Friday from 1 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cruise Terminal on 10 Blaney Street.
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