Photographs
[Click on the image to see in full-size]
| Original photo caption;
description (if any):
|
| "USRC Bear and SS
Corwin; Roadstead, Nome, Alaska." Date unknown; Lomex
Bros. photograph, No. 999.
Probably the Coast Guard's most
famous cutter, the Bear was originally built by Alexander
Stephen & Son in Scotland for sailing in northern waters as a
whaler and sealer. Although she was not a true icebreaker, her
hull was reinforced for operations in light ice and is therefore a
forebear of today's icebreakers. She was purchased by the U.S.
Navy for the Greely Arctic rescue mission in 1884 and was turned
over to the Revenue Cutter Service in 1885. Here she served
valiantly in Alaskan waters for over 40 years under the command of
many famous captains, including the indomitable Michael Healy.
She was taken back into naval service during World War II and served
on the Greenland Patrol. Ultimately she sank while under tow
in 1963.
|
| Leonid Krassin.
No caption/photo number;
date/photographer unknown.
The Soviets offered the use of their
icebreaker Krassin to the U.S. in 1941 and the Coast Guard
surveyed her for use in Greenland waters. She was originally
constructed by Vickers and entered service with the Russians in
1917. Although the Soviets revoked their offer in November,
1941, and she therefore never entered U.S. service, the Coast Guard
did obtain information on her design. That information was
utilized in the design and construction of the Wind Class
icebreakers. |
| USCGC Northland.
No caption/photo number;
date/photographer unknown.
Although not a true icebreaker, the Northland,
launched in 1927, was designed to replace the Bear and
operate in Alaskan waters and was therefore a forerunner of today's
icebreakers. Her hull, extensively welded instead of
riveted--a novel feature in 1926, was designed to withstand 100 psi,
permitting operations in light ice conditions. She was rigged
with two masts for auxiliary power in the event of damage to her
single propeller. The masts were removed in 1936. G.U.
Stewart collection. |
| USCGC Northland;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
Greenland, circa 1944. Compare
with the photo above. She had quite an active career with the
Coast Guard rescuing stranded Army Air Force crewmen in Greenland
and attacking German weather stations and supply trawlers. She
was decommissioned in 1946 and sold to the Israeli
"underground." After conversion work she was renamed
The Jewish State and ran the British blockade of Palestine
transporting Jewish immigrants. After the creation of the
state of Israel in 1948, the Northland, now renamed Matzpen,
became the first warship of the new Israeli Navy. She saw
action against Egyptian forces that attacked Israel by sea; shelled
Tira and Tyre and then served as a training ship, then a tender to
the Israeli motor torpedo boat fleet, and finished her career as an
accommodations ship for the port command at Haifa. She was
decommissioned from the Israeli Navy in February, 1962 and sold for
scrap. |
| USCGC Eastwind; no
caption; Photo No. 032345-7; photo by Kreitz, #160.
Eastwind in Greenland waters,
23 March 1945. The "Winds" were the first class of
true icebreakers built by the U.S. They were heavily armed and
carried a Grumman J2F amphibian. Gibbs & Cox of New York
provided the designs with input from the Coast Guard's Naval
Engineering Division. The final design was heavily influenced
by studies conducted by then LCDR Edward Thiele of foreign
icebreakers, namely the Swedish Ymer and the Soviet Krassin.
Eastwind and Southwind
were the only two Wind Class icebreakers to see active service
during the war. Both were involved with the capture of the
German trawler Extersteine in Greenland. |
| "EASTWIND
(WAGB-279); Antarctic Operation Deep Freeze I (1955-56); PENGUIN
DRILL TEAM with a stalwart leader at the head troops past the U.S.
Coast Guard icebreaker EASTWIND in a show of strength against the
intruder to their domain at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica."
Photo No. 01-01-56 (01); 1 January
1956; photo by PH1 Walter Zaborney.
As shown here Eastwind
participated in the first Deep Freeze cruise. These were
annual voyages to resupply U.S. bases in Antarctica. She was
also active in cruises through the arctic, resupplyied early-warning
bases there as well as in Greenland, became the first cutter to
circumnavigate the globe during a 1960-1961 operation, assisted
vessels in distress or freed those trapped by ice, circumnavigated
the globe again during Operation Deep Freeze '67, and broke ice on
the Great Lakes. She survived a deadly collision with the
tanker Gulfstream in 1949 although 13 crewmen perished.
She was decommissioned and sold in 1972. |
| "OPERATION DEEP
FREEZE -- 1963. The 269-ft., 6,515 ton U.S. Coast Guard
icebreaker EASTWIND rips open a channel through frozen McMurdo Sound
for cargo ships carrying personnel, equipment, and supplies for
scientific stations in the [sic] Antarctica. In some areas the
ice is 10 to 20 feet thick."
Photo No. 6082; date/photographer
unknown.
The Eastwind became the first
cutter to ever circumnavigate the globe in 1960 when she departed
Boston on 25 October 1960, transited the Panama Canal, crossed the
Pacific Ocean, visited New Zealand and the McMurdo Sound Station,
Antarctica, and sailed home via the Indian Ocean. She sailed
through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, through the Straits
of Gibraltar, and arrived back at Boston in May, 1961. |
| "OPERATION DEEP
FREEZE 1969: A U.S. Coast Guard trio of icebreakers crushes a path
through heavily ice-paved McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic for cargo
ships to follow to the main base at Hut Point, Ross Island.
There the cargo is divided for dissemination to other scientific
stations. Leading is the heavier 310-ft. USCGC GLACIER
(WAGB-4) followed by the two 269-ft. icebreakers USCGC BURTON ISLAND
(WAGB-283 and the USCGC SOUTHWIND (WAGB-280). The latter is
based at Baltimore, Md., while the first two operate out of Long
Beach, Cal. All three are veterans of Deep Freeze operations.
After this icebreaking mission, however, the GLACIER departs alone
to make the International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expedition. EAS/bjh."
Photo No. GAPI-01-00-69; 1969;
photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Glacier.
No caption/photo number;
date/photographer unknown.
The Glacier was originally a
US Navy icebreaker but was transferred and commissioned into the
Coast Guard on 30 June 1966 after the Navy decided to give the Coast
Guard total responsibility for icebreaker operations. In fact,
the Navy transferred all of their remaining icebreakers to the
nation's oldest continuous sea-going service and since that time the
Coast Guard has been the sole U.S. military service conducting polar
icebreaking cruises. |
| USCGC Glacier; no
caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
Glacier was originally
commissioned in 1955 in the US Navy but was transferred to the Coast
Guard in 1966. She was decommissioned in 1987 and was
eventually turned into a museum ship. |
| USCGC Glacier; no
caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
In the mid 1970's the Coast Guard
began painting all of its polar icebreakers' hulls red to make them
easier for helicopter pilots to spot in the ice. The Mackinaw
was exempted from the change. |
|
"Commissioning of
the Southwind."
No photo number; 15 July 1944;
photographer unknown. U.S. Coast Guard Photo; 11th Naval
District Office, Photographic Section.
After seeing service on the Greenland
Patrol, and assisting the Eastwind in capturing the German
trawler Externsteine, Southwind was transferred to the Soviet
Union on 23 March 1945. Our Soviet allies renamed her Admiral
Mararov ("The father of the modern icebreaker,"
according to the Soviets). She served in the Soviet Navy until
1950 when she was returned to the US Navy. The Navy renamed
her Atka, and she once again changed hands in 1966 when the
Navy transferred all remaining Navy icebreakers to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard christened her Southwind on 18 January 1967.
She remained in service until 1976, when she was decommissioned and
sold. |
| "HOME FOR CHRISTMAS:
There was a good crisp chill in the air as the various Tidewater
news media representatives boarded a Coast Guard 40 footer at Base
Berkley enroute to the Coast Guard Cutter SOUTHWIND. Upon our
approach to the great white cutter cameras began to click and wind,
and the sight of her discolored bow impressed you with the idea that
she had left her mark in the last 27,000 mile journey. One of
them was at Santa's very door step and if he really lives at the
North Pole only the crew of the SOUTHWIND knows and they aren't
telling. What she is telling is that she penetrated closer to
the North Pole than 'any United States icebreaker.'"
No photo number; December 1970;
photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Burton Island;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown. 11th Coast
Guard District (dpi) photo.
The Burton Island was
originally a US Navy icebreaker but she was transferred to the Coast
Guard on 15 December 1966.
|
| USCGC Burton Island;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
Burton Island was originally
commissioned into the US Navy in 1946 and was transferred to the
Coast Guard in 1966. She remained in service until 1978. |
| USCGC Edisto; no
caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
The Edisto was originally a US
Navy icebreaker but was transferred to the Coast Guard and
commissioned into service on 20 October 1965. She was
decommissioned in 1974.
|
| "$10 MILLION COAST
GUARD MACKINAW WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL ICEBREAKER: Built to smash a
channel through ice seven feet thick, the new Coast Guard icebreaker
MACKINAW has started her rugged duty on the Great Lakes.
Costing $10,000,000, the MACKINAW is conceded to be the most
powerful icebreaker in the world and is expected to open traffic on
the Great Lakes three to four weeks earlier in the spring and to
keep the channels clear later in the fall. Two hundred and
ninety feet long, she cuts a channel 70 feet wide, adequate to
service the largest lakes ore carriers."
Photo No. 3778; photo released 10
January 1945; photographer unknown. |
| "'BIG MAC' USCGC
ICEBREAKER MACKINAW (WAGB-83): 'Big Mac' as sometimes the U.S. Coast
Guard [icebreaker] is called, is shown here beginning early March
icebreaking operations in the Straits of Mackinac, heralding the
spring opening of Great Lakes shipping. An HO4S-2G helicopter
(From Coast Guard Air Station, Traverse City, Michigan) perched on
the stern makes ice surveys for the icebreaker during its 6 to 8
weeks of icebreaking operations. The Coast Guard Cutter
MACKINAW was specially designed and built for icebreaking on the
Great Lakes. Normally lake ice thaws at the end of April, but
the MACKINAW has opened Great Lakes shipping lanes as early as the
third week in March, thus facilitating the early shipping of
millions of tons of iron ore and other materials. Usually at
the first week in March the MACKINAW heads first for the strategic
area of the Straits of Mackinac to begin ice operations and as
conditions permit works up though the Soo Locks, to Whitefish Bay
and areas of the St. Mary's River, then to the head of Lake
Superior. Later the icebreaker works in the lower Lakes'
areas.
The MACKINAW is literally
land-locked, her size not permitting her to leave the Great Lakes.
Built of steel, 'Big Mac's' length is 290 ft., beam 74 ft., draft 19
ft., displacement 5,252 tons, maximum speed 16 knots. A diesel
electric power plant delivers 10,000 h.p. through twin screws in the
stern and one in the bow. The bow propeller is employed to
churn the water beneath the ice, changing its static buoyancy.
The resulting combined forward and downward motion when the MACKINAW
drives its great bow onto the ice makes the icebreaker capable of
breaking through 4 feet of solid sheet 'blue' ice. The
MACKINAW has also plowed through 37 ft. of 'windrow' (broken) ice.
It is capable of cutting a channel 70 ft. wide to accommodate the
largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers.
During navigation season, the
MACKINAW is used to handle the heaviest buoys on the lakes with the
aid of its two 12-ton cranes, to carry fuel and supplies to light
stations, to serve as a training ship, and to assist vessels in
distress when necessary.
Built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Co.,
Ohio, the MACKINAW cost 10 million dollars when completed. The
MACKINAW's keel was laid on March 20, 1943, and the icebreaker was
commissioned on December 20, 1944. Its permanent homeport is
Cheboygan, Michigan."
Photo No. 5772; October 1957;
photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Mackinaw; no
caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
The design of the Mackinaw was
based on the Wind Class but was wider and longer, modifications that
decreased her draft, a necessary precondition for service on the
Great Lakes. Additionally, her hull was made of mild steel.
She was to have been named Manitowoc but the Navy had already
assigned that name to a frigate. |
| USCGC Northwind; no
caption; Photo No. Northwind #7; date/photographer unknown.
Note the HNS-1 Hoverfly on her flight
deck. She was the second Wind Class icebreaker named Northwind.
The first was transferred to the Soviet Union before WAGB-282 was
launched. 282 was commissioned in the Coast Guard as the Northwind
on 28 July 1945 and stayed in service until she was decommissioned
in 1989. |
| USCGC Northwind;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown. |
| "CGC STATEN ISLAND
OPERATES IN ROSS SEA: The USCGC STATEN ISLAND, a Coast Guard
icebreaker stationed in Seattle, Washington, breaks the eight-foot
pack ice near McMurdo Station. The vessel is deployed in
Operation DEEP FREEZE '67 and is operating in the Ross Sea area of
the Antarctic. The STATEN ISLAND is commanded by Captain
Robert T. Norrix."
Photo No. 278-010867-01; 28 December
1966; photo by Ken Lane.
The Staten Island was
originally named Northwind and was transferred to the Soviet
Union on 26 February 1944. The Soviets named her Severni
Veter and later Admiral Makarov . She was returned
to US control and commissioned as a U.S. Navy icebreaker in 1951 and
was renamed Northwind. To avoid confusion with her
Coast Guard "sister," WAGB-282, the Navy renamed her Staten
Island on 15 April 1952. |
| USCGC Staten Island;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
Staten Island was transferred
to the Coast Guard and commissioned in the nation's oldest sea
service on 1 February 1965 after the Navy decided to cede all
icebreaking vessels and all icebreaking responsibilities to the
Coast Guard in 1965-1966. She was decommissioned in 1974
and sold the next year.
|
| "CUTTER WESTWIND
RETURNS TO NYC FROM ARCTIC CRUISE: The Cutter WESTWIND is shown here
maneuvering in New York Harbor prior to mooring at the Brooklyn
Naval Shipyard on September 30 upon her return after 121 days in the
Arctic."
Photo No. 89-54 (8 of 9); 29
September 1954; M.T.A.
The Westwind was transferred
to the Soviet Union in 1945 and they renamed her Severni Pulius.
She sailed under the Communist flag for six years until the Soviets
returned her to the U.S. in 1951. After being refurbished, the
Coast Guard recommissioned her on 22 September 1952 as Westwind
once again. She was decommissioned in 1988. |
| "CUTTER WESTWIND
RETURNS FROM ARCTIC: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Westwind
(WAGB-281), an icebreaker, approaches the Coast Guard LORAN Station
at Cape Atholl, Greenland. The station is located some 20
miles from Thule Air Force Base and 800 miles from the North Pole.
The Westwind arrived in the area in July of this year. Scenic
fjords and rugged mountains loom in the background."
Photo No. 396-64 (2 of 4); Neg.
#081864-23; 18 August 1964; photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Westwind; no
caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
Note her new stack, added during an
extensive renovation conducted in 1974-1975. The renovations
included the strengthening of her bow and stern areas, replacement
of her engines, widening her propeller shaft diameter from 19 to 22
inches, and a new "Icebreaker Red" paint scheme. She
stayed in service for another thirteen years and was formally
decommissioned in 1988. |
| USCGC Polar Sea;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown.
The Polar Class icebreakers were
designed to replace the Coast Guard's aging icebreaker fleet but due
to budget constraints only two were authorized: WAGB-10 (Polar Star)
and WAGB-11 (Polar Sea). They were both built by the Lockheed
Shipbuilding Company of Seattle and both entered service in 1976.
The were designed to break 6.5 feet of ice at 3 knots and could
reach a maximum speed in open water of 18 knots. They were
also built with newly designed controllable-pitch propellers that
caused some initial problems after they first entered service.
However, these "teething problems" were overcome and in
conjunction with USCGC Healy, the Polar Class continue to carry out
successfully the Coast Guard's icebreaking missions on the earth's
polar regions. |
| USCGC Polar Sea;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Polar Star;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown. |
| USCGC Polar Star;
no caption/photo number; date/photographer unknown. |
|
"Arctic West, Arctic (June 10 [1996])--Coast Guard Cutter Polar
Star (WAGB 11). Since the late 1970s, these 400-foot mammoths of the
Coast Guard fleet, based in Seattle, Wash., have been traveling
north and south for their primary mission of scientific and
logistical support in both Polar Regions. Polar class icebreakers
have a variety of missions while operating in polar regions. During
Antarctic deployments, their primary missions include breaking a
channel through the sea ice to resupply the McMurdo Research Station
in the Ross Sea. Resupply ships using the channel to bring food,
fuel, and other goods to make it through another winter. In
addition, to these duties, Polar Star also serves as a scientific
research platform with five laboratories and accommodations for up
to 20 scientists. The "J"-shaped cranes and workareas near
the stern and port side of ship give scientists the capability to do
at-sea studies in the fields of geology, vulcanology, oceanography,
sea-ice physics and other disciplines."
Photo No. 98481
Photo by PA3 Andy Devilbiss, USCG.
|
| "USCGC Healy
(WAGB 20) was constructed by Avondale Industries in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Her keel was laid on September 16, 1996. A spectacular
launch followed on November 15, 1997. Delivered to the U.S. Coast
Guard and placed "In Commission, Special" on November 10,
1999, Healy joined the icebreakers Polar Star (WAGB
10) and Polar Sea (WAGB 11) in their homeport of Seattle,
Washington. The ship departed New Orleans on January 26th, 2000,
arrived in Seattle on August 9th, 2000 and was placed "In
Commission, Active" on August 21st, 2000."
The Healy is the largest and
heaviest cutter ever designed and built for the Coast Guard.
She can break 4.5 feet of ice at 3 knots and 7.8 feet of ice by
backing and ramming.
|
|
"CGC HEALY (FOR RELEASE)
Strait of Belle
Isle (Apr. 5 [2000])--The Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) enters
the ice for the first time just east of Strait of Belle Isle. Our
newest WAGB, the Polar Icebreaker/Research Vessel is built by
Avondale Industries in New Orleans. USCGC HEALY is named in
commemoration of Captain Michael A. Healy, U. S. Revenue Marine.
Captain Healy was most notable as the foremost seaman and navigator
of his time in the Bering Sea and Alaskan Arctic regions while
Commanding Officer of the U. S. Revenue Cutter BEAR from 1886 to
1895."
Photo No. 9584
Photographer
not listed. |
|
"COAST GUARD CUTTER HEALY (WAGB
20)(FOR RELEASE)
Labrador Sea,
Greenland (May 12 [2000])--The Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) is
currently testing its icebreaking capabilities. The test are
conducted in a 28ft pressure ridge while sustaining 2.5 knots in 5
1/2 feet of ice."
Photo No. 10841
Photographer
not listed. (Coast Guard Digital Photo) |
|
"COAST GUARD CUTTER HEALY (WAGB
20) (FOR RELEASE)
Near Canada
(July 25 [2000])--The Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20), in thin
ice in the Artic Circle, as observed from one of the ships two
helicopters."
Photo No. 95199
Photo by Joe
Boyle, PencilNews.com (Coast Guard Digital Photo)
|
|
"CUTTER HEALY GOES TO NORTH
POLE (FOR RELEASE)
NORTH POLE
(Dec. 20, 2002) -- The Coast Guard Cutter Healy's crew poses in
front of the cutter after reaching the North Pole Sept. 6. The Healy
became only the second U.S. surface ship to reach the North
Pole."
Photo No.
228222
Photographer
not listed. (Coast Guard Digital Photo)
|