Tall ship Eagle docks in NY to mark U.S. Coast Guard‘s Birthday

August 5, 2016 Associated Press

In this July 2016 photo, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry sails beside the yacht American Eagle, right, and a group of jet skiers in Rhode Island's Narragansett bay. George Bekris/OHPRI via AP

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The only tall ship on active service in the U.S. military has docked in New York City to help the Coast Guard celebrate its birthday.

The 295-foot-long Eagle sailed into New York Harbor and docked in Manhattan on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard’s 226th birthday.

The 80-year-old, three-mast vessel serves as an officer training ship for Coast Guard cadets. Based out of New London, Connecticut, it was built by Germany and seized by the Allies during World War II. A Coast Guard crew sailed the ship to New York 70 years ago.

The Eagle is docked at Pier 86 on Manhattan’s West Side, next to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. The ship will be open to the public through Sunday.

Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first secretary of the treasury, is considered the father of the U.S. Coast Guard.