US Tall Ship Sets Sail to Commemorate 1812 War
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, America’s tall ship, has sailed for the 2012 Summer Training Cruise and participation in Operation Sail 2012 and War of 1812 Bicentennial events in New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Va., Baltimore, Boston and New London, Conn. The Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the United States flag and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service. A three-masted barque, the Eagle provides an unparalleled at-sea leadership and professional development experience for future officers of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Portsmouth-Based Cutter Returns from Patrol
The Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returns home Saturday, June 7 at 1 p.m. from a 61-day patrol in support of maritime homeland security, counter-drug operations and alien migrant interdiction in the Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea. At the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom and with the national threat level at orange, Harriet Lane was ordered to patrol the Florida Straits and positively identify shipping traffic approaching the southern U.S. through the well-traveled old Bahama channel. The immediate threat in the region was high-speed small boats (often called go-fasts), which ferried illegal Cuban migrants between Cuba and the Florida Keys 80 miles to the north.