You may already know the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle will be moored along Pier 1 on Portway Street. Visitors will be allowed, with valid government-issued ID, but leave the sandals at home: No open-toed shoes allowed.

Built in 1936 at the Blohm+Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, its original name was Horst Wessel. At the end of World War II, it was taken from the Germans as a war reparation, re-commissioned as the Eagle, and sailed to New London, Connecticut, its permanent home port, where it has been used as a training vessel for future Coast Guard officers ever since.

The Eagle is 295 feet long, has three masts (the tallest being 150 feet), and it has 23 sails with a sail area of 22,227 square feet, and 6 miles of rigging. There’s a working crew of 55, and the speed under sail is 20 mph. 

This vessel, known as “America’s Tall Ship,” is the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service. So enjoy this rare opportunity to see it while it’s in Astoria.