The USCGC Eagle arrived in Portland Wednesday night, passing underneath the St. Johns Bridge after touring up the Columbia and Willamette rivers from Astoria. The 295-foot crusing vessel — a steel-hulled, three-masted barque — is now docked at Waterfront Park, the place it joins eight different ships as a part of the Portland Rose Competition’s Fleet Week.
Since being taken from Germany after World Warfare II, the Eagle has skilled generations of Coast Guard officers. Inbuilt 1936 because the Horst Wessel and seized by america as a warfare reparation, the ship was renamed the Eagle and now serves as a hands-on coaching platform for cadets. It stays one of many final operational square-rigged crusing ships on the planet — and the one one nonetheless in lively U.S. army service.
This yr, the Eagle is a centerpiece of Fleet Week, a Portland custom relationship again to 1907 that brings army ships and crews to the downtown waterfront for a number of days of public excursions and civic occasions. Crews from the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy are providing free ship excursions by Sunday.
Free public excursions of the Eagle
- Friday, June 6: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, June 7: 10 a.m. to five p.m.
- Sunday, June 8: 10 a.m. to five p.m.
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Fleet Week provides a uncommon have a look at life aboard working army vessels and celebrates greater than a century of Portland’s ties to the ocean companies. Under is a breakdown of all 9 ships visiting Portland this week.
| Department | Identify | Size | 12 months | Objective | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Navy | USS Mustin (DDG 89) | 2003 | Destroyer | Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer with Aegis system for multi-domain warfare. | |
| United States Navy | USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) | 2023 | Destroyer | First Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with upgraded radar and missile protection. | |
| United States Coast Guard | USCGC Eagle (WIX-327) | 1936 | Coaching ship | Three-masted barque used to coach cadets; acquired by the U.S. after WWII. | |
| United States Coast Guard | USCGC Bluebell (WLI-313) | 1945 | Buoy tender | Maintains navigation aids on the Columbia, Willamette, and Snake rivers. | |
| United States Coast Guard | USCGC Blue Shark (WPB-87360) | 2002 | Patrol boat | Marine Protector-class vessel conducting legislation enforcement and SAR in coastal waters. | |
| United States Coast Guard | USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563) | 2000 | Buoy tender | Keeper-class cutter sustaining aids to navigation in Puget Sound. | |
| Royal Canadian Navy | HMCS Nanaimo (MM 702) | 1997 | Coastal protection | Kingston-class vessel supporting patrol, mine countermeasures, and maritime safety. | |
| U.S. Military Corps of Engineers | Survey Vessel Redlinger | 2010 | Survey vessel | Foil-assisted catamaran used for hydrographic surveys and dredging help. | |
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Sources: U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, Military Corps of Engineers |
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U.S. Navy ships will probably be open for public excursions June 5–8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., however strains might shut early relying on wait occasions — typically as early as 2 p.m.
Guests should current government-issued ID and cross by safety screening. Open-toe sneakers should not allowed, and all are inspired to carry as few gadgets as attainable.
–Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive
