Tall ships aren’t exactly an uncommon sight in New York City, but this weekend will see something quite special, with more than 40 such sailing vessels taking part in the 2026 International Naval Review and Sail4th 250 celebrations to commemorate the United States of America’s 250th anniversary. The fleet will feature around 30 Class A tall ships, some ranging from 340 to 371 feet in length, with numerous Class B vessels, including sloops and schooners, also participating.
One part of the story that organizers might like visitors to skim past is that the United States Coast Guard vessel that will lead the parade on Saturday, July 4, was built by Nazi Germany and was originally named for a notorious martyr of the Third Reich.
A Former Nazi Training Ship
The USCGC Eagle (WIX-327) is often called “America’s Tall Ship,” as it is the largest such vessel in service to fly the Stars and Stripes and is also the only square-rigger in service with the U.S. Armed Forces.
However, the less well-known part of the story is that the 295-foot-long steel-hulled barque was built by Nazi Germany and was previously used to train German sailors in sail techniques. She was one of three sail-training ships built at the Blohm+Voss Shipyard in Hamburg in the 1930s.
Commissioned in 1935, she was operated by the Kriegsmarine (Germany’s Navy under the Nazis) in the late 1930s and was first commissioned as SSS Horst Wessel. The second of the Gorch Fock-class of sail training ships, it was an improvement of the original design. She was larger in dimension and her spars were made of steel.
The tall ship was named in honor of SA leader Horst Wessel, an early supporter of Adolf Hitler and a notorious martyr of the Nazi cause. Her launch was a major propaganda event for Nazi Germany. Hitler was present at the ceremony, while Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party Rudolf Hess gave a speech about the sacrifices of the early party members. Wessel’s mother even christened the vessel.
The choice of name was somewhat controversial, as even in the Nazi era, most military vessels were named to honor German naval heroes of ages past. Still, during the Nazi era, Wessel’s life was glorified in memorials, books, and films. In reality, Wessel was little more than a street thug who was killed by a German Communist and a member of the Red Front Association. The Nazis simply needed a martyr and found one in Wessel.
At the close of World War II, the tall ship was taken as war reparations by the United States and subsequently re-commissioned as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. WIX-327 is actually the seventh U.S. Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a proud line dating back to 1792.
The name was seen as fitting, as the vessel featured a large eagle figurehead that remained in place and is now on display in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Museum in New London, Connecticut.
The transfer of the tall ship was also something of a legend.
In June 1946, an American crew, assisted by the original German captain and his remaining sailors, steered the newly rechristened Eagle from Bremerhaven through an Atlantic hurricane to New York.
An Active Training Ship
Each year, throughout the spring, summer, and fall, cadets and officer candidates of the Coast Guard regularly train aboard the 295-foot (90-meter) barque. Even in the age of state-of-the-art ships and aircraft, the sailing ship serves to provide conditions and situations that can’t be replicated in either a classroom or even aboard today’s more modern vessels.
The cadets who serve on the sailing ship are meant to find themselves completely out of their element, and therefore dependent on wind, waves, and currents, and must quickly learn how those forces of nature affect a vessel. The training is further meant to help in ship-handling, decision-making, and the meeting of unexpected challenges, while cadets learn the value of teamwork. To maneuver USCGC Eagle under sail, the crew must handle more than 22,000 square feet of sail and five miles of rigging.
The U.S. Coast Guard vessel is just one of dozens of tall ships that will be present in New York City this coming weekend.
Tall Ships From Around the World
Today, more than a dozen navies also use tall ships as elite training platforms to build character, resilience, and to teach fundamental seamanship to cadets. Navigating purely by wind and reading the sea serves to instill a deep, intuitive understanding of hydrodynamics, weather patterns, and basic watchstanding that can’t be easily replicated on modern warships.
In addition, the tall ships serve as floating embassies in national goodwill tours while fostering the nation’s maritime heritage.
One nation that isn’t present in the 250th celebrations is the UK’s Royal Navy, and it has nothing to do with being on the losing side of the American Revolution.
Rather, despite helping build the nation’s global empire in the “Age of Sail,” until last year the Royal Navy didn’t actively employ any tall ship training. The UK military’s senior service only began tall sail training as part of a pilot program that served to test whether the training should be extended. The tall ship Pelican of London is operated by the UK-based charity Adventure Under Sail and wasn’t available for the celebrations.
The Royal Navy isn’t the only national maritime fighting force not to have a dedicated tall ship in service. At present, the United States Navy lacks such an oceangoing tall ship. That is why on Saturday in New York City, the USCGC Eagle will serve as the leader of the Parade of Sail.
The B Parade On Friday
The Tall Class B Parade will serve as a sneak peek to Saturday’s big event, as it is set to open the tall-ship festivities on Friday, July 3, on New York City’s East River from 1:00 pm until 2:30 pm. Free viewing is available from the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfront, as well as from Brooklyn Bridge Park, the South Street Seaport, and the Battery along the East River and harbor route.
On the morning of Saturday, July 4, the fleet of tall ships is expected to sail under the Verrazano Bridge, pass the Statue of Liberty, and then proceed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge before turning and sailing back down.
