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In 1939 at the
beginning of the German Blitzkrieg through the Low Countries, France
Denmark and Norway, The Danmark was caught in one of the
southern ports of the United States with a full complement of
trainees, officers and crew. It could not leave port for fear of
capture by the Allies or torpedoing by German submarines since its
home country was overrun by the Germans. It was a very rough deal
for the Captain, officers and crew concerned about their families in
Denmark and with the 80 boy trainees aboard who became quickly tired
of learning the same old lessons without being able to practice
them. One by one, the boys were given permission to sign on to the
American Merchant Marine. Then came Pearl Harbor and we were in the
war with the Allies.
Captain Hansen then
went to Washington to see if there was anything he, his crew, and
his ship could do to further the war effort. Not too long after
that, a Coast Guard officer came aboard to look the ship over and
shortly orders came that they should prepare the ship for transit to
New London. With it was a cartel giving them permission to fly the
Danish flag and the necessary papers, which would prevent capture by
allied ships.
However, at the
Academy, those charged with the task of what to do with the
Danmark, scratched their heads trying to figure out how it could
be useful. A number of plans were formulated and just as promptly
discarded. Then someone came up with the brilliant idea, why don’t
we use it doing what it was doing before, TRAINING CADETS! Accepted
without a dissenting voice Captain Hansen, his officers and crew
started training USCG cadets in all kinds of weather, 24 hours per
day on Long Island Sound. At the War’s end, some 5000 American
cadets had been trained for the sea by these Danish seaman in their
Danish registered ship.
At war’s end, when
the German training ship the Horst Wessel became a prize of
war and was given to the United States, the Chief Officer of the
Danmark assisted the Coast Guard Academy in acquiring, restoring
and sailing it to the United States. It was promptly renamed the
USCG Eagle and took over from the Danmark. It has
continued to do that to the present day. All USCG cadets are given a
training cruise in it. The Coast Guard is now a firm believer that
such training is not only desirable but also necessary for the
development of its officers.
After the war, the
Danmark sailed for its homeport and almost immediately sailed
for the eastern and western coasts of the United States to say THANK
YOU to the American public for its kindness to the ship. At that
time, a Bronze plate was secured to the ship bearing the text:
Presented to the Danish
training ship Danmark
In appreciation of
Service rendered in
training
Officer Candidates for
The United States
Coast Guard Academy
January 1942 to
September 1945
That, my Dear Readers is
why the Danish ship Danmark is always honored by being placed
second behind the USCG Eagle in any Op-Sail held in the
United States. She was here for Operation Sail 2000 and was of
course in her accustomed place: number two behind the Eagle.
We had heard about one ship, which always sails
second to the Eagle in Op Sail but had thought nothing of it until
we read an article in Sea History Autumn 99 by Suzanne McMurray Ko.
We then checked with our own USCG Public Relations staff who
confirmed the facts about the Danmark. Ms Ko translated this
story from the Danish for the magazine.
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