The Skipper & the Eagle

In January 1946, Cdr. McGowan set about refitting the former German sail training vessel for her return to America as a war prize. With the help of her German crew and US Coast Guardsmen new to sail, he fitted her for sea, then sailed her across the Atlantic to Bermuda, and home to New York. On this last leg they met a hurricane which severely tested the ship and her mixed crew. They learned to pull together to sail and, ultimately, to save the ship.