Historic US Coast Guard training barque to receive new engine

U.S. Coast Guard’s historic training barque Eagle is soon to be repowered under a $1.5 million project led by BMT.

BMT Designers & Planners, a subsidiary of BMT Group, is heading the project which involves engineering, design, supply and logistics support to install a new MTU 8V4000 engine, ZF gearbox, propeller, automation system and other related components.

While the vessel is frequently operated under sail by U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets, she routinely employs an auxiliary propulsion system for use during manoeuvring and when sails cannot be utilized.

BMT’s scope includes providing the complete work package of design plans and specifications, engineering data for provisioning, technical manuals, training, on-site and post-availability technical support. With the support of its suppliers, BMT will also be providing all of the equipment to the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, MD for installation on the vessel in the winter of 2017-18.

“The project presents some unique engineering challenges, and it is exciting to be involved in extending the life of this majestic historic vessel,” said BMT’s project manager Emily Whitman, PE.

BMT will partner with Johnson & Towers (J&T), a fourth-generation family-owned business and the distributor for the Rolls Royce Power Systems Company, representing the full line of MTU engines. As BMT’s sub-consultant, J&T is supplying the engine, gearbox and other components for the project.

Formerly known as the Horst Wessel, the 295-foot three-mast, originally sailed under the German Nazi regime before the U.S. received the vessel as part of war reparations in 1946.

Eagle’s home port is New London, on the Thames River at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. The Eagle’s primary mission is training for cadets and officer candidates. However, the Coast Guard accommodates requests for a limited number of port visits each year, when these do not interfere with the cutter’s primary training mission.