Icebreaking Alaska

By Capt. Jeffrey D. Hartman USCG (Retired)

The Arctic is a place of great challenges and great rewards. A century ago, it was whale oil; today, it is motor oil. The increasing open water in the warmer months is attracting cruise ships to tour the Arctic. Significant offshore oil and natural gas deposits are of great interest to an oil-dependent economy. But the history of the Arctic is full of surprises for the unwary and the unprepared, despite native peoples having managed to live there for thousands of years. Oil spills or maritime emergencies can and do arise a long way off from assistance. Legendary Arctic storms are, if anything, becoming more intense and dangerous. All this is in an area inaccessible by roads or by sea except for icebreakers the majority of the year. It is of extreme interest to the US Coast Guard, charged with protecting seafarers, enforcing laws, and facilitating commerce.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781439647004

Capt. Jeffrey D. Hartman USCG (Retired)

Jeffrey D. Hartman is a retired USCG captain and helicopter pilot with 30 years of service. In Alaska, he flew rescue missions and operated from an icebreaker, was the program manager for the Coast Guard�s search-and-rescue program, and established the Coast Guard as the naval component of the Alaskan Command. This is his second book and the first with Arcadia Publishing.

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INTRODUCTION

The Alaskan Arctic is a place that most people will never see. It is a barren, seemingly lifeless place, with great challenges even to survive. Yet the Arctic has a rich, complex history and has great promise for the future. It has been the home of the Native peoples for thousands of years. These ancient peoples, known as Ipani, or long-time-ago Eskimos, lived by adapting to a substance lifestyle harvesting whales, seals, and birds when they were available. This subsistence lifestyle was carefully taught to each new generation. This balanced, traditional way of life has been overtaken by modern civilization with its much greater hunger for resources. Many now claim the resources of the Arctic.

There are five major players in the Arctic that border the semi-enclosed Arctic Ocean. The United States has eight percent of this pie. The largest segment belongs to Russia with 44 percent. Canada is next with 23 percent. Denmark, because of Greenland, is third largest with 13 percent. Norway follows the United States at seven percent, and five percent is open water.

The allure of the Arctic to the nonnative has changed over time. Early on, the quest was discovery. Where could one go? When could one go there? Was there an open ocean somewhere in the middle? Gradually these questions were answered. But the history of the Arctic is fairly recent. It was only a little over a century ago that a Westerner sailed through the Northwest Passage. There have been historic disasters and great mysteries and survival under extreme conditions throughout the region’s history.

The Arctic has changed dramatically. It has been discovered but sparsely chartered. We know that it has vast riches in oil and natural gas. Slightly over 100 years ago, it was a rich whaling ground to which American ships flocked. Many never came back.

The Arctic itself is changing. The thick ice is getting thinner. The new ice each year is retreating further from shore. Many nations now see the Arctic as a shortcut to markets. In some ways, the Arctic is less predictable and hence more dangerous than in the past. Barrow has 324 days of freezing temperatures every year. It is still a place of intense storms, and oddly enough, less ice close to shore means that windblown waves have the potential of greater destructive power. Also, no matter how much the ice retreats in the warmer periods, it always comes back in the Arctic winter. So any structure that is not temporary needs to be built to withstand the winter and the force of moving ice.

For years, US Navy and US Coast Guard icebreakers have come to the Arctic to learn, research, and discover and to support national objectives. The Coast Guard has broad responsibilities as the federal onsite presence to protect the mariner and the environment but also to facilitate the nation’s commerce. Much of this requires icebreakers. This book is about the how and why of icebreaking in Alaska. Opinions expressed are my own and not official Coast Guard policy.

Despite the dramatic changes occurring or forecast for the Arctic, the nation has but one Polar-class icebreaker operational, the USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), and one medium icebreaker, the Healy (WAGB-20). Both are home-ported in Seattle, as is the sister ship to the Polar Star, the Polar Sea (WAGB-11), which is in mothballs for lack of funding.

For a time, icebreakers were a high national priority. World War II logistics required the ability to keep ports and waterways open in the winter months. This included sub-polar regions in Greenland and Labrador. For this duty, the Storis was commissioned in 1942. Funding for the Wind-class breakers was authorized; however, the first three of the new icebreakers were promptly loaned to our ally Russia, which had a crucial need for the war effort against the Nazis. These were the icebreakers Northwind, Southwind, and Westwind. The fourth cutter in the series, Eastwind, stayed with the United States and was operated by the Coast Guard during the war.

Additional breakers were built, including the Edisto and Burton Island, which were operated by the Navy. Also a second Northwind was constructed to replace the loaner to the Russians and was operated by the Coast Guard. In 1951–1952, the three loaned icebreakers were returned by the Russians, and two became Navy icebreakers Atka and Staten Island. The third loaner was the Westwind, which was to be operated by the Coast Guard.

In April 1967, the US Department of Transportation was created by the Johnson administration. The Coast Guard left its home in the US Treasury Department where it had been for 177 years to join the new department. As part of the transfer, the Coast Guard was given the responsibility to operate all the nation’s