The Bay-class tugboat is a class of icebreaking

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

, with hull numbers WTGB-101 through to WTGB-109. They can proceed through fresh water ice up to thick, and break ice up to thick, through ramming. They can also ram pressure ridges of up to eight feet in thickness. These vessels are equipped with a system to lubricate their progress through the ice, by bubbling air through the hull.

Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)

A SLEP is a major overhaul intended to extend a vessel's service life; it is typically scheduled as the vessel approaches the end of its originally planned service life. The Bay-class tugboat SLEP project includes significant system upgrades and improvements to the propulsion plant; to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; installation of an engine-room fire-suppression system; boat launching davit replacement; Oily Water Separator replacement; stack exhaust configuration modifications; hull air-ice lubrication system; and crew habitability improvements to meet current standards (including removal of lead paint). When the Coast Guard described the Bay-class tugboat SLEP to the U.S. Congress in 2015, the first SLEP was scheduled to take 12 months; however, the Coast Guard anticipated that after the third SLEP the

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would have enough familiarity with the process to complete two SLEPs per year, with an anticipated duration of 9 months each. The first of nine cutters (''Morro Bay'') entered SLEP at the Coast Guard Yard on July 1, 2014. ''Morro Bay'' returned to her homeport of Cleveland in September 2015 http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2605666/Coast-Guard-Cutter-Morro-Bay-returns-to-Cleveland-following-14-month-overhaul ADM-Stosz001

Ships

* (WTGB-101) ''Katmai Bay'' (Homeport -

Sault Ste. Marie, MI Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It ...

/ Builder:

Tacoma Boatbuilding Company Tacoma Boatbuilding Company (sometimes Tacoma Boat) was a shipyard at 1840 Marine View Drive, Tacoma, Washington, in the United States. It was established in 1926 and closed in 1992. History Tacoma Boat was established in 1926 and built man ...

) * (WTGB-102) ''Bristol Bay'' (Homeport -

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the ...

/ Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company) * (WTGB-103) ''Mobile Bay'' (Homeport - Sturgeon Bay, WI / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company) * (WTGB-104) ''Biscayne Bay'' (Homeport - St. Ignace, MI / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company) * (WTGB-105) ''Neah Bay'' (Homeport -

Cleveland, OH Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

/ Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company) * (WTGB-106) ''Morro Bay'' (Homeport -

/ Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company] * USCGC Penobscot Bay (WTGB-107), (WTGB-107) ''Penobscot Bay'' (Homeport - Bayonne, NJ / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated) * (WTGB-108) ''Thunder Bay'' (Homeport - Rockland, ME / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated) * (WTGB-109) ''Sturgeon Bay'' (Homeport - Bayonne, NJ / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated) * (WTGB-110) ''Curtis Bay'' (Construction cancelled)

References

External links

USCG page
Ships built by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company {{US-mil-ship-stub

Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)

Ships

See also

References

External links