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View Full Version : Yay U.S. Coast Guard!



Spartana
1-5-14, 1:19am
Going to rescue the Chinese and Russian ships stuck in the ice in Antarctica. Ice Breaker Polar Star:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1353&d=1388902607

Gregg
1-5-14, 9:34am
{{{Sound of bugles playing the cavalry charge.}}} YEA!!!

catherine
1-5-14, 10:00am
Yay, Coast Guard to the rescue! Wish you were there, Spartana?

IshbelRobertson
1-5-14, 10:48am
Haven't the Australians helicoptered most of the passengers to an Aussie base already?

CathyA
1-5-14, 11:01am
Well, let's see if they don't end up stuck too. ;)

Spartana
1-5-14, 11:50am
Well, let's see if they don't end up stuck too. ;)Ha Ha - that's probably what will happen :-)! Although maybe not since, according to this CG article it's: "'Along with POLAR STAR's sister ship POLAR SEA, she is one of the largest ships in the US Coast Guard and the world's most powerful non-nuclear ships". The Polar Stars sister ship - the Polar Sea (now decommissioned) once purposely got stuck in ice up in the Arctic for something like 18 months to allow helicoptered in science people to do research. That must have been before global warming with the sea ice never went away each summer. Yeah one of my dreams when I was in the CG was to do a tour on an ice breaker and go to Antarctica but never happened. And yes Isobel, I believe they did helicopter out most of the people on the Russian ship but the ships crew are still onboard - as is the Chinese crew.

CathyA
1-5-14, 1:35pm
Spartana.......does a ship being stuck in such deep ice ever cut the ship?

JaneV2.0
1-5-14, 3:23pm
The Coast Guard epitomizes the best of the military, IMO.

Kestrel
1-5-14, 6:38pm
About 30 years ago I wanted my son to join the Coast Guard instead of the Navy, but he went with the Navy. I guess he wanted to see Subic Bay. Oh well. :~)

Spartana
1-8-14, 1:10am
Spartana.......does a ship being stuck in such deep ice ever cut the ship?Not generally. They have rounded hulls (bottoms) that allow them to rise up and sit on top of the ice (and crush it with their weight) if the ice compresses the hull. But I guess if they hit an iceberg it could cause a lot of damage. They often do get stuck though but usually can force themselves out...eventually :-)! In the mean time the crew members get to get off ship and walk around on the ice (called Ice Liberty and time for a par-tay!). I hear the smaller CG ice breakers on the Great Lakes and east coast are working 24/7 right now to keep shipping lanes open during the big freeze out there. Brrrr...... 77 here today :-)! USCG has been sending ice breakers to Antarctica (and the arctic) almost every year for over 50 years now so I guess they have a bit of experience :-)!

Here's a pic of the CG Ice Breaker Healy and it's crew at the North Pole about 10 years ago. It was the second US ship to ever reach the North Pole at that time:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1355&d=1389162921

Opps! Just re-read your post and thought you were talking about CG icebreakers getting cut by ice. But yes, other ships - steel or wood hulls that aren't reinforced or have vee-hulls can be crushed and destroyed pretty easily by sea ice that compresses it. Happened a lot back in the old sailing days. But all 3 ships - US, Chinese and Russian are ice breakers so are built to withstand the ice pressure so won't likely be harmed.

Spartana
1-8-14, 1:14am
About 30 years ago I wanted my son to join the Coast Guard instead of the Navy, but he went with the Navy. I guess he wanted to see Subic Bay. Oh well. :~)

Ah, Subic Bay... a place near and dear to my heart - NOT! It was one of our port stops on our South Pacific patrol when I was stationed on a CG ship out of Hawaii. Lots of CG ships stop in Subic Bay (including the ice breakers that come out of Seattle headed to Antarctic every year) since they do drug and contraband patrols both in the northern and southern hemisphere in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (and Arctic and Anarctic - where they also do fisheries patrol as well). I never made it as far south as Antartica but did make it to the southern tip of Chile once as well as the Arctic on Northern Patrols. Had some wild times in Subic Bay though. Lots of wild tales about those wild Navy boys too :-)!

Spartana
1-8-14, 3:32am
Just read that both the Chinese and Russian ships were able to free themselves (wind changed and pushed the ice away from the ships) so now the USCG can go on their merry way to McMurdo Sound or maybe back to Sydney first for beer :-)!

Spartana
1-8-14, 12:05pm
The Coast Guard epitomizes the best of the military, IMO.Well they are still evil war mongers :-)! Even have a permanent station with a bunch of ship and small boats and support people in Bahrain for the last 10 plus years to do military stuff alongside the Navy in the wars in the middle east - and even had some units doing hazmat stuff and inspections in landlocked Afghanistan. Same with all the other wars. But yeah, they do lots of cool and helpful things other than just go to war - which most of the other services, especially Air Force, National Guard and Navy - do too.

A USCG RAID unit in Afghanistan. Even has a couple of females too: They normally dress like the second photo and paint their ship and helos gray so that is why no one knows they are USCG:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1356&d=1389201115http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1357&d=1389201382

OK OK I'll stop with the CG history lessons ...for now :-)!