Massachusetts to Host Coast Guard Tall Ship Eagle For America250

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Eagle turns 80 in 2026. Perfect timing, as "America's Tall Ship" will celebrate by joining a parade of tall ships from around the world sailing into Boston as part of Sail Boston 2026, and the United States Semiquincentennial Celebration (America250) marking the country's 250th birthday.

America is going to party like it's 1776!

According to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy website, "Eagle is a 295-foot, three-masted barque used as a training vessel for future officers of the United States Coast Guard."

"The majestic Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only active square rigger in U.S. government service," the Coast Guard Academy stated.

Eagle's primary mission is "training cadets and officer candidates, but the ship also performs a public relations role for the Coast Guard and America," according to the Academy. "Eagle welcomes the public to visit during domestic port calls, and makes calls at foreign ports as a floating goodwill ambassador for U.S. diplomatic relations."

The Eagle last made a port call in New Bedford in 2018.

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The publication Stars and Stripes reported, "Unlike the Constitution, the Eagle did not begin life in a New England shipyard. It's a war prize, taken from Germany at the end of World War II as partial reparations for the costs of the conflict inflicted by the Axis powers on the Allies."

Sail Boston 2026 will take place July 11-16, 2026, and will feature tall ships from countries such as Canada, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Poland and more.