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USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279)
Encyclopedia
USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279) was a United States Coast Guard
Wind-class
icebreaker
.
She was laid down in 1942 and launched in 1944. Eastwind ferried 200 US army troops which captured the last German weather station in Greenland
, Edelweiss II, on 4 October 1944. She also seized the German trawler Externsteine, which was ressuplying the base. Externsteine was later commissioned in the US Coast Guard as USCGC Eastbreeze.
In 1952, during an Arctic Cruise, for the first time were launched stratospheric balloons from the deck of the ship. The balloon carried scientific instruments to perform cosmic ray studies and rockets to be fired once in the stratosphere (Rockoons). Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.
In 1956 and 1956 she participated in Antarctic exploration activities. Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.
In October of 1960, as part of Operation Deep Freeze
, she departed Boston, passed through the Panama Canal, crossed the Pacific, visited New Zealand and McMurdo sound. Leaving Antarctica, she traveled the Indian Ocean, came through the Suez Canal, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to return home in May of 1961. This tour made the Eastwind the first cutter ever to circumnavigate the globe.
In 1966 she left Boston MA in September for Operation Deep Freeze '67' returned April 1967. Captain William Benkert, Commanding.
After that she was assigned to operations on the Great Lakes until being sold to Sun Oil Company.
In 1972 she was sold for scrap and last seen at the breaking yards in New Jersey in 1976 or 1977.
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
Wind-class
Wind class icebreaker
The Wind-class icebreakers were a line of diesel electric-powered icebreakers in service with the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and Soviet Navy from 1944 through the late 1970s...
icebreaker
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
.
She was laid down in 1942 and launched in 1944. Eastwind ferried 200 US army troops which captured the last German weather station in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, Edelweiss II, on 4 October 1944. She also seized the German trawler Externsteine, which was ressuplying the base. Externsteine was later commissioned in the US Coast Guard as USCGC Eastbreeze.
In 1952, during an Arctic Cruise, for the first time were launched stratospheric balloons from the deck of the ship. The balloon carried scientific instruments to perform cosmic ray studies and rockets to be fired once in the stratosphere (Rockoons). Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.
In 1956 and 1956 she participated in Antarctic exploration activities. Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.
In October of 1960, as part of Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...
, she departed Boston, passed through the Panama Canal, crossed the Pacific, visited New Zealand and McMurdo sound. Leaving Antarctica, she traveled the Indian Ocean, came through the Suez Canal, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to return home in May of 1961. This tour made the Eastwind the first cutter ever to circumnavigate the globe.
In 1966 she left Boston MA in September for Operation Deep Freeze '67' returned April 1967. Captain William Benkert, Commanding.
After that she was assigned to operations on the Great Lakes until being sold to Sun Oil Company.
In 1972 she was sold for scrap and last seen at the breaking yards in New Jersey in 1976 or 1977.