USS Glacier (AGB-4)

USS Glacier (AGB-4) on August 9, 1960
History
United States
NameUSS Glacier
NamesakeGlacier Bay, Alaska
BuilderIngalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Yard number580
Laid down3 August 1953
Launched27 August 1954
Sponsored byMrs. Roscoe F. Good
Christened27 August 1954
Commissioned27 May 1955
Decommissioned1966
Stricken30 June 1966
HomeportBoston, Massachusetts
Identification
MottoFollow Me!
Nickname(s)Mighty G (USN)
Honors and
awards
Navy Unit Commendation
FateTransferred to the United States Coast Guard, 30 June 1966
United States
NameUSCGC Glacier
Acquired30 June 1966
Decommissioned7 July 1987
IdentificationHull number= WAGB-4
Nickname(s)
  • Wandering Arctic Garbage Barge
  • Big Red (1973)
FateBroken up in 2012
General characteristics
TypeIcebreaker
Displacement8,449 long tons (8,585 t) full load
Length309 ft 6 in (94.34 m)
Beam74 ft (23 m)
Draft29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion
Speed17.6 knots (32.6 km/h; 20.3 mph)
Range29,200 nautical miles (54,100 km; 33,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried
4 lifeboats, 1 LCVP, and 1 Greenland Cruiser, later 1 Arctic Survey Boat
Complement14 officers, 2 warrant officers, 225 enlisted
Armament
Aircraft carried2 helicopters. Air detachment: 4 officers/pilots and 10 enlisted maintenance technicians/aircrew personnel
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck with retractable hangar, and overhead crane for aircraft engine service

USS Glacier (AGB-4) (later USCGC Glacier (WAG/WAGB-4)) was a U.S. Navy, then U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker which served in the first through fifteenth Operation Deep Freeze expeditions. Glacier was the first icebreaker to make her way through the frozen Bellingshausen Sea, and most of the topography in the area is named for her crew members. When built, Glacier had the largest capacity single armature DC motors ever installed on a ship.[1] Glacier was capable of breaking ice up to 20 feet (6.1 m) thick, and of continuous breaking of 4-foot (1.2 m) thick ice at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).

Named for Glacier Bay, Alaska, USS Glacier was launched on 27 August 1954 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Mississippi, sponsored by Mrs. Roscoe F. Good; and commissioned on 27 May 1955, CDR. E.H. Mayer USN, Commanding. Glacier is the only icebreaker built in the Glacier class, and was in U.S. Navy service for 11 years, and U.S. Coast Guard service for 21 years.[2]

  1. ^ Janes Fighting Ships 1979-80, Captain John E Moore (ed), Janes Yearbooks, London, 1979. ISBN 0-354-00587-1
  2. ^ "USCG Glacier " (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard History Program. United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 17 December 2012.