Polar-class icebreaker

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Polar class
USCG Polar Star
USCG Polar Star
Class overview
Builders: Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, WA
Operators: United States Coast Guard
Preceded by: USCGC Glacier
Succeeded by: USCGC Healy
Built: 1972–1978
In service: 1976–
Completed: 2
Active: 1
Laid up: 1[1]
General characteristics [2]
Type: Icebreaker
Displacement:
  • 10,863 long tons (11,037 t) (standard)
  • 13,623 long tons (13,842 t) (full)
Length: 399 ft (122 m)
Beam: 83 ft 6 in (25.45 m)
Height: 137 ft 10 in (42 m) (from waterline)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)[3]
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
  • 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) in 6-foot (1.8 m) ice
Range:
  • 16,000 nautical miles (30,000 km; 18,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
  • 28,275 nautical miles (52,365 km; 32,538 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement:
  • 15 officers
  • 127 enlisted
  • 33 scientists
  • 12-person helicopter detachment
Aviation facilities: Helipad and hangar

Polar-class icebreakers USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) are heavy icebreakers operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). These cutters, specifically designed for open-water icebreaking, have reinforced hulls, special icebreaking bows, and a system that allows rapid shifting of ballast to increase the effectiveness of their icebreaking. The vessels conduct Arctic and Antarctic research and are the primary icebreakers that clear the channel into McMurdo Station for supply ships. All are homeported out of Seattle, Washington.

In addition to the two Polar-class icebreakers, the USCG has a third polar-capable icebreaker, USCGC Healy (WAGB-20).[4]

Both Polar Star and Polar Sea are near the end of their effective lifetimes, and have spent years moored because they were in need of expensive and unbudgeted upgrades.[5][6][7] In November 2013 four Senators proposed an amendment to the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act authorizing the construction of four new Polar class vessels, at a cost of $850 million each.[8][9][10] The four Senators sponsoring the amendment were Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, from Washington, and Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, from Alaska. According to the Seattle Times the chances that the amendment will survive into the bill, as passed, are slim.

References

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  2. Baker 1998, p. 1119.
  3. Moore 1985, p. 772.
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Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons


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