Gilding the Eagle

The Baltimore Sun reports here on a major overhaul of New London's Eagle. They even regilded the figurehead, right down to the talons holding the Coast Guard crest

"John Downes, a Baltimore native who supervised the team of Curtis Bay Coast Guard yard workers that carried out the $5 million refurbishing, said the Eagle's crew of 56 officers and enlisted personnel worked alongside his team every step of the way.

"It's crucial for them to see it taken apart and put back together correctly, because when their lives are on the line on a dark night when the weather is rough and they're 100 feet up there," he said, pointing at the 146-foot mast, "they can have confidence.' "

Now New London can love the Coast Guard even more.