USCGC ''Katmai Bay'' (WTGB-101) is a

United States Coast Guard Cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. Histor ...

, and the lead ship of the Bay-class of

icebreaking 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 ...

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. At , she is designed to have greater multi-mission capabilities than the 110' ''Calumet''-class Harbor Tug (WYTM). She is homeported in

Sault Ste Marie, Michigan 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 i ...

, operating in support of the much larger .

Design

''Katmai Bay'', namesake of an area of saltwater shoreline in the

Katmai National Park and Preserve Katmai National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass , which is between the sizes of Connecticut a ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, is the lead ship of a class of

s designed to have greater multi-mission capabilities than the 110' ''Calumet''-class Harbor Tug (WYTM). The most significant differences include greater horsepower, greater speed, longer range, increased ice-breaking capability, hull lubrication system, greater degree of automation, and better habitability. Trials were conducted in

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield o ...

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

which determined that the ship has a tactical diameter of approximately three ship lengths when using 30 degrees rudder and that the ship could stop in 40 seconds with a reach of four ship lengths from an approach speed of when ordering full astern power. The ship can obtain a speed of . Cgc Katmai Bay sm

Deployment

''Katmai Bay'' is stationed at

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

. She is helping the in ice breaking duties.

References

External links

Bay-class icebreaking tugs 1979 ships Ships built by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company {{US-mil-ship-stub