A starboard view of the anchored US Coast Guard icebreaker POLAR STAR (WAGB 10). Coast Guard Photo
The Coast Guard will not pursue nuclear-powered icebreakers, despite previous White House requests that the service assess the possibility, its top officer said Wednesday. Read More
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew based out of Air Station Kodiak and deployed aboard Cutter Alex Haley, prepares for a helicopter in-flight refueling at sea evolution with the cutter crew during a search and rescue case near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. US Coast Guard Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020. Read More
Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, speaks at a drug offload in San Diego, on Sep. 10. 2020. Coast Guard Photo
The Coast Guard commandant said “readiness remains foremost” on his mind, with an emphasis on “dollars for people,” in the coming budget that is being developed in the midst of an administration change. Read More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Jan. 13, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
For the first time in almost five decades, the Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker won’t be supporting Antarctic scientific missions in coming months but will operate instead the Arctic near Alaska, the ice breaker’s commander said recently. Read More
Coast Guard Cutter Healy conducts their Arctic West Summer 2018 science mission with the northern lights visible above the ship while in the Arctic Ocean, Nov. 12, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
A Coast Guard icebreaker is cutting short a research mission to the Arctic after suffering a fire while underway on Aug. 18, the Coast Guard announced on Tuesday. Read More
An artist’s rendering of VT Halter Marine’s winning bid for the U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter. VT Halter Marine image used with permission
The White House released a memo Tuesday ordering the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to review the planned Polar Security Cutter fleet, a year after awarding the first-in-class icebreaker contract.
The following is the Feb. 5, 2020 Government Accountability Office testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security on the Coast Guard icebreaker programs. Read More
The Coast Guard Cutter Nathan Bruckenthal berthed before its commissioning ceremony in Alexandria, Virginia, July 25, 2018. The Bruckenthal was the 28th Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter to be commissioned.
U.S. Coast Guard photo
The Coast Guard’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request calls for fully funding the next phases of the service’s two most significant cutter programs but leaves a third class on hold for the time being.
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star moves through pack ice Dec. 28, 2019, about 200 miles north of McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The 43-year-old Polar Star is the nation’s only heavy icebreaker. This year marks the 64th iteration of the operation known as Operation Deep Freeze. U.S. Coast Guard photograph
The nation’s only heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) finished bashing a 23-mile channel through pack ice on Wednesday to reach the National Science Foundation’s research facility, McMurdo Station, in Antarctica.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL-755) crew members inspect a self-propelled semi-submersible on June 19, 2019, in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. US Coast Guard Photo
This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.
For the U.S. Coast Guard, 2019 was marked by big moves in the service’s two most significant programs – the start of the Polar Security Cutter and a delay of the Offshore Patrol Cutter program.
