The ''Samuel Risley''-class icebreakers are a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of two

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

s and

buoy tender A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. This term can also apply to an actual person who does this work. The United States Coast Guard uses buoy tenders to accomplish one of its primary missions of main ...

s constructed for and operated by the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...

. The two ships are based on offshore supply

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 ...

design and entered service in the 1980s. ''Samuel Risley'' is deployed to the Central Region, operating mainly on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

of North America, while ''Earl Grey'' is posted to

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

, working off the east coast of Canada.

Design and description

In the late 1970s, offshore supply

s were in high demand and their success led to experimentation by the Canadian Coast Guard. In 1980, a crane was temporarily installed aboard the former offshore supply vessel , situated on the afterdeck. This was done to see if this would be a successful model for buoytending. ''Jackman'' visited all the principal coast guard stations in the eastern half of the country to test the setup in different conditions in 1980–81. The results of the test proved positive and in 1983, the Canadian Coast Guard contracted Robert Allen Ltd of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

to create a design based on this setup.Maginley, p. 70 The design of the vessels is based on offshore supply-tugboat designs, with strengthened chines. The vessel has a tall foredeck, and a long low quarterdeck, for carrying buoys, where a crane with a capability of lifting is permanently mounted. The crane is motion stabilized. Both vessels are

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . The icebreakers have a draught of . Both ships displace with ''Earl Grey'' having a and a and ''Samuel Risley'' having a gross tonnage of 1,967 and a net tonnage of 649.5.Saunders, p. 96 ''Earl Grey'' is powered by four Deutz 4SA 9-cylinder diesel-electric engines driving two controllable pitch

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s that create . This gives the vessel a maximum speed of . The vessel has a capacity of of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...

that gives ''Earl Grey'' a range of at and the vessel can stay at sea for up to 58 days. The ship is equipped with one

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

3306 emergency generator. ''Samuel Risley'' is powered by four

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

Vasa 16V22 12-cylinder geared diesel-electric engines driving two controllable pitch propellers that create . This gives the vessel a maximum speed of . The vessel has a capacity of of diesel fuel that gives ''Samuel Risley'' a range of at . The ship is equipped with one

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

6–71 emergency generator. The vessels are equipped with two

Racal Decca The Decca Radar company was a British manufacturer of radar systems. There were originally two divisions, Marine and Heavy Radar, with separate product lines. The latter was sold to Plessey in 1965, and the term "Decca Radar" normally refers to ...

navigational radars using the I band. Both ships are considered light icebreakers and have an

ice class Ice class refers to a notation assigned by a classification society or a national authority to denote the additional level of strengthening as well as other arrangements that enable a ship to navigate through sea ice. Some ice classes also have r ...

of Arctic Class 2, which certifies that the ships have the capability to break ice up to thick. The vessels each have a complement of 24, with 9 officers and 15 crew.

Ships in class

Operational history

''Earl Grey'' was constructed by Pictou Shipyard Ltd at their yard in Pictou, Nova Scotia with the yard number 218. The vessel was completed on 30 May 1986. The vessel is registered in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and home ported at

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. ''Samuel Risley'' was built by Vito Steel Boat & Barge Limited at their yard in Delta, British Columbia with the yard number 161 and launched in 1984.Maginley and Collin, p. 175 The vessel was completed on 4 April 1985. After completion, ''Samuel Risley'' sailed to eastern Canada, transiting the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

and deploying to the

. The ship is assigned to the Central Region, based at

Parry Sound, Ontario Parry Sound is a town in Ontario, Canada, located on the eastern shore of the sound after which it is named. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is a single tier government located in the territorial District ...

. ''Earl Grey'' took part in fall 1998 in assisting in the recovery of wreckage from the crash of Swissair Flight 111. ''Earl Grey'' and recovered wreckage from the plane, while transferring human remains to . On 7–8 December 1989, ''Earl Grey'' was sent to look for survivors from two cargo vessels that had sank in

Cabot Strait Cabot Strait (; french: détroit de Cabot, ) is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint L ...

. None were found. In 1996, the ship assisted in the recovery and raising of a wrecked oil barge from the sea floor which had been carrying

bunker oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

that had been salvaged from another sunken ship. In early 2015, ''Samuel Risley'' worked alongside other icebreakers to rescue many commercial ships that had become stuck in the ice on the Great Lakes. ''Earl Grey'' underwent a refit beginning in 2015. ''Samuel Risley'' underwent a refit in 2016. ''Samuel Risley'' deployed to the Arctic Ocean during the 2018 sailing season, taking part in the resupply mission to the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

base at

Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...

, Greenland.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * {{Icebreakers of Canada ~ Auxiliary icebreaker classes Auxiliary tender classes