Like the great Cape Horn square-riggers built during the first three decades of the 20th Century -- the twilight era of sail -- EAGLE is constructed of modern materials. EAGLE has a steel hull four-tenths of an inch thick, two full-length steel decks with a platform deck below and a raised forecastle and quarterdeck; and weather decks made of three inch thick teak over steel. Its design and construction embody centuries of development in the shipbuilder's art, and EAGLE eagerly takes to the element for which it was designed, effortlessly and gracefully driving under full sail in the open ocean at speeds up to 17 knots.

When in homeport in New London, EAGLE rests alongside a pier on the Thames River at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The Academy was originally founded in 1876 when nine students boarded the Revenue Cutter DOBBIN. A series of cutters followed the DOBBIN, and in 1932 a permanent shore facility was established at its present site on land donated by the New London community. Approximately 900 men and women attend the Academy, all of whom sail at one time or another on America's only active duty square rigger.