August 6th Wilmington Star-News by Amy Hotz.
On August 5th, the 295-foot long USCGC WIX-327 square-rigged tall ship Eagle made its way along the Cape Fear River past the western battlement of Fort Fisher where the 32-pounder cannon at Sheppard's Battery fired a welcoming shot.
The ship was visiting Wilmington where it was docked last weekend and public tours given. The tours were free, but you had to have tickets which had to be picked up advance.
The Eagle is a barque and is based in New London, Ct, where it is a training vessel for Coast Guard cadets and other officer candidates.
The ship was built in Germany in 1936 and has a history there before the US acquired it at the end of World War II as part of reparations. I will write more about it in my Cooter's History Thing blog in the next several days. http://cootershistorything.blogspot.com.
I imagine the fort's garrison saw quite a few rigged ships and steamers sailing past it during the fort's days as protector of the port of Wilmington. A bit of a trip back into time.
This Would Have been a Neat Thing to See. --Old B-Runner
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