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While every ship has its own unique history and certainly
the U.S.S. Glacier has an illustrious past, it is now set
on a course for an even more important future. The U.S.S. Glacier
made Antarctic history by becoming the first ship to penetrate the
Bellingshausen Sea to make landfall on Thurston Island. On that
voyage the navigator was Ben Koether who now some 40 years later
as chairman of the Glacier Society is planning an ambitious program
to save the historic polar vessel, restore it as an operational
oceanographic platform for marine and medical science, and environmental
education.
When commissioned in 1955, it was the world's largest
and most powerful icebreaker; 310 feet long with a beam of 74 feet
and a full load displacement of 8,915 tons. Glacier was capable
of breaking ice 20 feet thick. From 1955-66 the "Mighty G" served
with the U.S. Navy. It served as R.Adm. Richard E. Byrd's flagship
during Operation DeepFreeze (1955-56).
In 1966 when the Coast Guard assumed responsibility
for the U.S. ice breaking missions and all Navy icebreakers were
transferred to the U.S.C.G. her hull was painted red and the Glacier
assumed the name "Big Red." During her 32 years of service the ship
made 39 expeditions steaming nearly a million miles.
The ship routinely broke through 20 miles of channel
permitting cargo vessels to bring supplies to the American base
at McMurdo Sound. The Glacier also rescued the ice beset
Danish ship, Kista Dan, which was carrying veteran explore Sir Vivian
Fuchs. On its way back to Boston, the Glacier assisted in
flood relief for two weeks in an area near Forteleza on the Northeastern
coast of Brazil.
Since Glacier's retirement, ex-shipmates have
formed the U.S. Glacier Association and started a history of her
32 years of service. Glacier made 29 trips to the Antarctic
(15 consecutive) and 10 to the Arctic. At the 1997 reunion the late
James Tinch, the Association President, was discussing the fate
of the Glacier with Ben Koether, the 1959-1961 navigator.
At the end of the meeting, Jim turned to Ben and gave him an order
to "Save the Glacier." With a smart "aye-aye," the Glacier Society
was launched.
The mission of the Glacier Society is to restore the
Glacier as a living, operating tribute to those who have
helped expand the knowledge of the Polar Regions. Despite the significant
contributions of the United States to polar exploration there is
no museum in this country dedicated to recognizing the military
personnel and civilian scientists who made it all possible and providing
an educational resource to ensure the sacrifices and accomplishments
made by so many are remembered. For years the motto of the Glacier
was "Follow Me."
So far the restoration has been achieved primarily
by volunteers through a process similar to that used for the operating
Liberty ships.
Through arrangements with MARAD Facility at Suisun
Bay, several teams of volunteers have worked on the ship conducting
initial ship checks, restoring interior lighting and making minor
repairs. The Coast Guard has already provided the Society with a
surplus Arctic Survey Boat. The Navy has provided the nine-foot
long builder's model of the Glacier on long-term loan.
Interested companies and organizations have already
contributed such things as diesel generators, transportation of
the model, administrative services and support.
The biggest challenge was to obtain Congressional
authorization for transfer of the Glacier from the Maritime
Administration to the Glacier Society. With the support of Senator
Joe Lieberman, Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Chris Shays, all
from Connecticut, authorizing legislation was introduced. In October
2000, the bill including authority for the Secretary of Transportation
to transfer the Glacier to the Glacier Society was approved
by the Congress and sighed in law by the President.
The program plan envisions a work period in Suisun
Bay of about two years and then transfer to a facility in the Bay
area for major restoration efforts. Finally, the Glacier
would proceed to a West Coast shipyard for dry docking and a major
overhaul of the engineering plant. Glacier would then move
under her own power to her permanent homeport in Connecticut and
be opened as a national resource for education, and international
museum of polar exploration for tourists and historians, and an
on the job training site for vocational and apprentice programs,
and a unique platform to conduct academic oceanographic research.
© 2003 Peter Robinson
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