US Coast Guard Eagle
by Marcia Lee Jones
Title
US Coast Guard Eagle
Artist
Marcia Lee Jones
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The Eagle began its existence as the Horst Wessel, a ship of the Gorch Fock class. Constructed and designed by John Stanley, the Horst Wessel was an improvement on the original design. She was larger in dimension and her spars were all steel, unlike Gorch Fock's wooden yards. SSS Horst Wessel began life as Schiff ("ship") 508 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany in 1936.[1] Her keel was laid on February 15; she was launched on June 13, completed on September 16, and commissioned on September 17. She was the second ship in the class to be built after the class namesake, Gorch Fock. Rudolf Hess gave the speech[2] at her launch in the presence of Adolf Hitler. The name was given in tribute to SA leader Horst Wessel, who had been accorded martyr status by the Nazi party. He also wrote the song (that would be known as 'Horst-Wessel-Lied') used in the Nazi national anthem.
Segelschulschiff Horst Wessel
SSS Horst Wessel served as the flagship of the Kriegsmarine sail training fleet, which consisted of Gorch Fock, Albert Leo Schlageter and Horst Wessel. She was commanded by Captain August Thiele and was homeported in Kiel. In the three years before World War II, she undertook numerous training cruises in European waters, but also visited the Caribbean. She was decommissioned in 1939, with the onset of the war, but served as a docked training ship until her recommissioning in late 1942. Equipped with two 20mm antiaircraft guns on the bridge wings, two on the foredeck, and two Flakvierling quad mounts on the waist, Horst Wessel is said to have downed three Soviet aircraft and one "friendly" German aircraft in combat.[citation needed] The crew had realized the German aircraft they had shot down was "friendly" while it was spiraling into the sea, and set about rescuing the pilot. When he set foot on the ship, he was furious and demanded an explanation. Upon review of the logs and radio personnel, it was determined that the pilot had been using the wrong codes for the battle group, showing the now embarrassed pilot that it was actually his fault.[citation needed]
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August 3rd, 2013
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Viewed 1,214 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/19/2024 at 5:31 AM
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Comments (42)
Robert Bales
What a beautiful presentation and congrats for the recognition on the feature pages!! v/f/t
Amyn Nasser
Gorgeous fine art print! Would look fabulous as a large print in the living room! voted! Marcia!!
Linda Phelps
Love the treatment you did to this image of The Eagle. My husband sailed on this ship when he was in the Coast Guard. Thanks for giving us the history of this historic ship. V. & F,