USCGC Eagle Commanding Officers
# USCGC Eagle Commanding Officers

The following is a list of Commanding Officers of USCGC Eagle (WIX-327). There have been a total of 31 Eagle captains during her 77 years under USCG commission, and 5 during her 10 years of commission as Horst Wessel under the Kriegsmarine.

Many of Eagle's past commanders have gone on to serve with distinction, include ADM Robert J. Papp Jr., who served as the 24th Commandant of the Coast Guard from 2010–2014, and VADM James C. Irwin, who served as vice commandant from 1986 to 1988. In all, 9 former Eagle commanders and two Horst Wessel commanders achieved flag rank.

Horst Wessel's first commander, German VADM August Thiele served with distinction as commander, Kampfgruppe Thiele during WW2, earning the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and KADM Kurt Weyher continued in the Imperial German Navy tradition of Count Luckner as a Merchant raider, earning the post-war Great Cross of Merit.

## KMS Horst Wessel

(Rank at assumption of command)

* Kapitan zur See August Thiele, 1936–1938
* Korvettenkapitan Kurt Weyher, January 1939 – September 1939
* Kapitanleutnant Martin Kretschmar, March 1940 – May 1940
* Fregattenkapitan Peter E. Eiffe, March 1941 – November 1942
* Kapitanleutnant Berthold Schnibbe, November 1942 – May 1945

## USCGC Barque Eagle

(Rank at assumption of command)

| No | Name | Years | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | CDR Gordon P. McGowan | 1946–1947 | First Eagle CO |
| 2 | CAPT Miles Imlay | 1947–1948 | Later |
| 3 | CAPT Carl B. Olsen | 1949-1950 | Later |
| 4 | CAPT Carl B. Bowman | 1950–1954 | |
| 5 | CAPT Karl O. A. Zittel | 1954–1958 | |
| 6 | CAPT William B. Ellis | 1959 | Later |
| 7 | CAPT Chester I. Steele | 1960–1961 | Later |
| 8 | CDR Robert A. Schulz | 1961–1962 | |
| 9 | CAPT William K. Earle | 1963–1965 | |
| 10 | LCDR Peter A. Morrill | 1965 | |
| 11 | CDR Archibald B. How | 1965–1967 | |
| 12 | CAPT Stephen G. Carkeek | 1967 | |
| 13 | CAPT Harold A. Paulsen | 1968–1971 | |
| 14 | CAPT Edward D. Cassidy | 1972–1973 | |
| 15 | CAPT James C. Irwin | 1974–1975 | Later |
| 16 | CAPT James R. Kelly | 1975–1976 | |
| 17 | CAPT Paul A. Welling | 1976–1980 | Later |
| 18 | CAPT Martin J. Moynihan | 1980–1983 | |
| 19 | CAPT Ernst M. Cummings | 1983–1988 | |
| 20 | CAPT David V.V. Wood | 1988–1992 | |
| 21 | CAPT Patrick Stillman | 1992–1995 | Later |
| 22 | CAPT Donald R. Grosse | 1995–1996 | |
| 23 | CAPT Robert J. Papp Jr. | 1996–1999 | Later |
| 24 | CAPT Ivan T. Luke | 1999-2003 | |
| 25 | CAPT Eric Shaw | 2003–2006 | |
| 26 | CAPT Joseph C. Sinnett | 2006–2009 | |
| 27 | CAPT Eric Jones | 2009–2012 | Later |
| 28 | CAPT Raymond "Wes" Pulver | 2012–2015 | |
| 29 | CAPT Matthew Meilstrup | 2015–2019 | |
| 30 | CAPT Michael Turdo | 2019–2022 | |
| 31 | CAPT Jessica Rozzi-Ochs | 2022- | First female CO |
| } KptLt Berthold Schnibbe (left) with CDR Gordon P. McGowan in Bremerhaven, 1946 4 generations of Eagle COs, (L-R) CAPT Jones, ADM Papp, CAPT Pulver, CAPT(ret) Cummings, 2012 References 1 2 "Eagle, 1946". CG Historian's Office. 12 January 2020.↑ Sutherland, Jonathan (2012). Tirpitz: The First Voyage. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781844688982.1 2 3 4 5 Drumm, Russell (2001). The Barque of Saviors: Eagle's Passage from the Nazi Navy to the U.S. Coast Guard. HMH. ISBN 9780547799810.1 2 McGowan, Gordon (2011). The Skipper And The Eagle. Sea History Press. ISBN 9780930248093.↑ "Rear Admiral Miles H. Imlay". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Rear Admiral Carl B. Olsen". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Truman at the helm of the Coast Guard Academy bark "Eagle"". trumanlibrary.gov. 20 September 1952. Retrieved 27 May 2022.↑ "CAPT Zittel's Legacy". USCGA Alumni Association. Retrieved 27 May 2022.↑ "Rear Admiral William B. Ellis". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Rear Admiral Chester I. Steele". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.1 2 Academy, USCG (1963). Bulletin of Information. US Department of Transportation, USCGA. p. 28.↑ Earle, William K (August 1988). "The 'Old Man' and the Eagle". Proceedings. U.S. Naval Institute.↑ "Peter Morrill Obituary". The Sun Herald. 7 June 2015.↑ Academy, USCG (1965). Bulletin of Information. US Department of Transportation, USCGA. p. 31.↑ "Stephen Carkeek Obituary". legacy.com. 9 August 2012.↑ "Edward Cassidy Obituary". legacy.com. 1 December 2011.↑ "Vice Admiral James C. Irwin". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ Smith, Red (22 June 1976). "It Can Ruin Your Whole Day". New York Times.↑ "Vice Admiral Paul A. Welling". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ Sager, Mike (29 June 1982). "A Swinging Life on a 25-Degree Roll". Washington Post.↑ Chidlow, Nora L. "Navigation As Silent Art? The Story of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf's Voyage on the EAGLE" (PDF). media.defense.gov. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Captain David Wood". northeastmaritime.com. Retrieved 2 February 2023.↑ "Rear Admiral Patrick M. Stillman". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr". history.uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Ivan T. Luke, Ph.D." US Naval War College. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ Schieldrop, Mark (3 April 2016). "Obituary: Eric Shaw, 58, USCG Ret". The Patch.↑ "U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Sinnett retires after 30 years of service". The Day. 22 April 2013.↑ "Rear Admiral Eric Jones". uscg.mil. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Coast Guard Captain Wes Pulver- at the Friends of Fort Trumbull". patch.com. 10 October 2018.↑ "Captain Matthew T. Meilstrup" (PDF). wardroomclub.org. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ "Captain Michael A. Turdo". uscga.edu. Retrieved 26 May 2022.↑ O'Neil, Rob (24 June 2022). "Eagle change of command". Key West Citizen. |
