USCGC Bristol Bay
History
United States
NameBristol Bay
NamesakeBristol Bay
BuilderTacoma Boatbuilding Co.
Completed1978
Commissioned1979
Decommissioned1946
HomeportDetroit
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeWhite-class tugboat
Displacement662 t (652 long tons)
Length42.7 m (140 ft)
Beam11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion
Speed14.7 knots (27.2 km/h)
Range
  • 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) at 14.7 knots (27.2 km/h)
  • 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
  • 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement3 officers and 14 enlisted
Armament2 × M240 machine guns

USCGC Bristol Bay (WTGB-102) is the second vessel of the Bay-class tugboat built in 1978 and operated by the United States Coast Guard.[1] The ship was named after the body of water formed by the Alaskan peninsula, which emptied into the Bering Sea.[2]

Design

Main article: Bay-class tugboat

The 140-foot Bay-class tugboats operated primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. They are named after American Bays and are stationed mainly in the northeast United States and the Great Lakes.

WTGBs use a low pressure air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements.

Construction and career

Bristol Bay was built by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co., in Tacoma, Washington in 1978. She was commissioned in Detroit, 1979.

In August 1991, Bristol Bay became the first Bay-class tugboat to receive a barge specially designed to perform aids to navigation work. The 120 foot long barge works with the ship to service more than 160 aids to navigation each year.

Hollyhock and Bristol Bay were deployed for ice breaking at the St. Clair River, on 25 February 2019.[3]

On 3 February 2021, Bristol Bay and Griffon were both dispatched to break up ice at the St. Clair River.[4] On 25 January 2022, Bristol Bay and Samuel Risley freed the freighter Assiniboione after being stuck on ice at St. Clair River.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "CGC BRISTOL BAY". www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  2. ^ "BRISTOL BAY History". www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  3. ^ Ervin, Jeremy. "Breaking ice aboard the Hollyhock". Times Herald. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  4. ^ Fitzgerald, Brian Wells and Laura. "UPDATE: Two more icebreakers deployed to help relieve St. Clair River flooding". Times Herald. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  5. ^ Barghouthi, Hani. "Freighter freed from ice on St. Clair River as minor flood advisory continues". The Detroit News. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Coast Guard busy assisting ships in St. Clair River". BlackburnNews.com. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bristol Bay (tugboat, 1979).
Bay-class tugboat
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