The biggest U.S. icebreaker is the USCGC Healy (WAGB-20). It is also the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest ship, categorised as a medium icebreaker. Her home port is Seattle, Washington, and she was commissioned in 1999. She is known for visiting the North Pole for the first time in September 2001 and for her other notable missions, which will be discussed in this article.
It can break 1.4 m of ice at 3 knots and 3 m of thick ice when ramming. It can function in extreme conditions with temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius.
Healy also functions as a platform to support other potential missions in the polar regions, including ship escort, law enforcement, search and rescue missions, protecting the environment, etc.
The biggest U.S. icebreaker was constructed by Avondale Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named to honour the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service Captain Michael A. Healy.
Healy has a displacement of 16,000 tonnes, and she is 128 m long with a 25 m beam and 8.92 m draft.
She has a maximum speed of 17 knots and a cruising speed of 14 knots. Healy has a complement of 19 officers, 54 enlisted and 51 scientists. Healy has 5 laboratories for conducting research.
The biggest U.S. icebreaker is optimally manned and has sophisticated features. She has two A-frames, one on the aft working deck and the other on the starboard side.
There are two cranes on the aft working deck, and it has enough space for conducting science and research operations.
The icebreaker has a forecastle crane that can lift 2.7 tonnes and two cranes that can lift 15 tonnes each.
She has a Dynamic Positioning System, which uses her 2200-horsepower Omnithruster Bow Thruster System that helps in navigation and station keeping during operations.
The flight deck can accommodate both the Coast Guard’s helicopter airframes. Healy can also accommodate 8 ISO vans on the vessel that can be used as labs and workspaces.
It also has 3 small boats onboard, including a cutter boat and two rigid hull inflatable boats, one on each side.
Healy was made for an array of research activities and provides over 390 m2 of lab space, several electronic sensor systems, oceanographic winches and an accommodation area for 50 scientists.
Notable Missions of Biggest U.S Icebreaker
On its first voyage in 2001, Healy mapped 1100 nm of the Gakkel Ridge, the only unmapped undersea ridge at the time, and also found 12 undersea volcanoes.
In 2003, it took part in Operation Deep Freeze, where it escorted ships and supported the annual resupply of McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
In 2009, Healy studied the ecosystem of the Bering Sea, especially the sea ice and the seabird and zooplankton populations.
In 2015, it became the first unaccompanied U.S. surface ship to arrive at the North Pole, where it conducted extensive research and collected samples. She engaged with the German Icebreaker Polarstern to support the international scientific mission, Geotraces.
In 2024, an engine room fire cut short its mission however, it was redeployed in October 2024, for an Arctic mission which included, supporting the Arctic Port Access Route Study (PARS) after it performed the bathymetric mapping in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to improve navigation safety and vessel routing in the Arctic.
It also hosted 20 polar scientists and mentors on an Arctic Chief Scientists Training Cruise, which conducted multidisciplinary research and mapping.
Her 73-day Arctic deployment ended in December 2024, and it included mapping uncharted waters for the Alaskan Arctic Coast Port Access Route Study (AACPARS), search-and-rescue operations, and training exercises.
Conclusion
USCGC Healy is the biggest U.S icebreaker and plays a vital role in advancing understanding of the Arctic, supporting safe navigation and maintaining U.S. presence in highly contested polar waters. It is an advanced vessel which has had many notable missions and accomplishments.
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