PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica — For the first time since 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle (WIX 327) sailed to the West Coast, making its first-ever port visit to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on April 27. The crew engaged with international partners and performed community service.
During her visit to Puntarenas, Eagle welcomed the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica, the Costa Rica Minister of Public Security, the Commandant of the Costa Rican Coast Guard and other dignitaries aboard as the ship sailed into port. The crew later hosted a reception that included Costa Rican Cabinet members, Attorney General, and numerous heads of agencies and legislators.
Eagle crew also participated in numerous media engagements, conducted ship tours, and joined in a beach clean-up in Puntarenas with its counterparts from the Costa Rican Coast Guard, further strengthening relationships with our international partners.
Known as “America’s Tall Ship,” Eagle is a 295-foot, three-masted barque, which operates as a training vessel for future officers of the United States Coast Guard. It is the largest tall ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service.
Eagle was constructed in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. Originally commissioned as the Horst Wessel by the German navy, the United States acquired the ship as a war reparation following World War II. Since 1946, Eagle has been homeported in New London, Connecticut on the Thames River near the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Additional information about Eagle can be found here.
For more information about Eagle, including port cities, tour schedules, and current events, follow the "United States Coast Guard Barque EAGLE" Facebook page or on Instagram @barqueeagle. All U.S. Coast Guard imagery is in the public domain and is encouraged to be shared widely.