The Skipper And The Eagle

Book excerpt: COMMANDER Gordon McGowan, cast in the role of master of a three-masted bark by order of the U.S. Coast Guard, found himself short on square rigged sailing knowledge and long on re-fitting problems when faced with transforming a battered German prize of war, the Horst Wessel, into a well-found Coast Guard training ship, the Eagle. The period was the end of the Second World War; the place was bomb-shattered Bremerhaven. In the SKIPPER AND THE EAGLE you’ll meet “Doc,” a dentist with a burning ambition to remove an appendix at sea; “Ducky,” an internationally known ocean racing yachtsman, now a naval officer dividing up ships of the German navy among the Allies. There’s a decidedly practical, if unorthodox, British Naval officer who assigns German seamen to Cmdr. McGowan in his search for men to augment his short-handed and inexperienced crew of graduates from boot camp. Cmdr. McGowan (now Capt. Rtd) was the only Coast Guard officer in Germany, a fact which gave rise to a series of amusing episodes. Furthermore, he had been brought up in steam vessels, and his knowledge of sailing ships left much to be desired. In fact, he feels that knowledgeable sailors should read this book if only to feel vastly superior to the author! He has a fully developed sense of humor and a talent for understatement which makes his book delightful reading. When the Eagle was finally made ready for sea, she took off through the mine fields of the North Sea and English Channel. Then under sail, to Funchal, Madeira, where the skipper had his first harrowing experience with rigid protocol. The Eagle enjoyed a long downhill run with the Trade Winds to Bermuda. On the voyage from Bermuda to New York the Eagle was caught in a full-fledged hurricane and the description of this ranks near the top of sea-going literature. The SKIPPER AND THE EAGLE is hearty fare for all with a love of the sea, ships, and the men who sail them. There isn’t a dull page in it.