Ship Tour

USCGC MOBILE BAY (WTGB-103)

The 140-foot Bay class Cutters are state of that art icebreakers used primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. They are named after American Bays and nine of them are presently in service stationed mainly in the northeast United States and the Great Lakes. 

Bridge

Fantail

Propulsion is by means of two Fairbanks Morse diesel engines with Westinghouse DC generators and one Westinghouse DC motor. This diesel-electric set-up can power the ship through fresh water ice up to 20 inches thick and break ice up to 3 feet thick by means of ramming. It can also ram thru pressure ridges of up to eight feet in thickness. WTGBs use a low pressure air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves ice-breaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull thereby decreasing horsepower requirements. 

Helmsman's Station on the Bridge

Collision, Chemical and General Alarms

Crewed by 27 officers and enlisted personnel the Mobile Bay conducts ice-breaking duties beginning in December through April in the northern Great Lakes. Its Area Of Responsibility (AOR) includes Green Bay, the Straits of Mackinac, and the St. Mary's River. The ship travels as far south as Milwaukee and Chicago in the course of its duties.

The Cutters Mobile Bay and the Bristol Bay are accompanied seasonally with a 120 foot barge for purposes of maintenance of Aids To Navigation (buoys) in the shipping channels. Additional missions include Maritime Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Environmental Pollution Response, and Homeland Security. 

Buoy Tender Barge

Aids to Navigation

There is an enormous wealth of maritime history in Sturgeon Bay and northeast Wisconsin.

*Impress your friends with this maritime trivia tidbit:  The homeport of USCGC Sturgeon Bay (WTGB-109) is Bayonne, NJ.