Tour a Great Lakes Cutter this week.

[BruceRTalbot]

You have an opportunity to tour USCGC BISCAYNE BAY (WTGB 104) "The Sentinel of the Straits" at Chicago's Navy Pier. The 110 foot Great Lakes ice breaking tug will arrive Monday, August 14 and will be open for tours daily as part of Navy Week 2012 running through Sunday August 19. The BISCAYNE BAY has a crew of 3 officers and 14 enlisted and is capable of breaking ice 20 inches thick at 3 knots forward, or up to 5-feet thick using the back & ram technique. http://ourflagwasstillthere.org/events/chicago-il/chicago-schedule-public-events

 

[LineInTheSand]

The Bay class cutters are 140'.

I was able to spend two weeks TAD on the USCGC Sturgeon Bay.... LOVED IT!

140's are the best kept secret in the Coast Guard.

 

[BruceRTalbot]

Opps! Right you are! The Calumet Class that the Bay class replaced were 110 feet.
Here's the stats:
Class and type: 140' Icebreaking Tug (WTGB)
Displacement: 690 tons
Length: 140 feet
Beam: 37.5 feet
Draft: 13 feet
Propulsion: Twin 1426 hp Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines driving two 125 kW generators which supply power for a 2500 hp Westinghouse electric motor driving the main propulsion shaft
Speed: 14.7 knots
Range: 4,606 nautical miles
Complement: 17 (3 officers, 14 enlisted)
Armor: Ice belt thickness 5⁄8 in (1.6 cm)

 

[LineInTheSand]

And one of the coolest things about the 140' (which I wasn't able to witness while I was TAD) is the "bubbler" hull tubrication system.