The is a United States Coast Guard Cutter

United States Coast Guard Cutter

Cutter is the term used by the United States Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. A Cutter is or greater in length, has a permanently assigned crew, and has accommodations for the crew to live aboard...

 and an icebreaking tug

USCG Icebreaking Tug

The USCG Bay-class icebreaking tug is a class of icebreaking tugs of the United States Coast Guard, 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...

.

Design

Katmai Bay, namesake of an area of saltwater shoreline in the Katmai National Park and Preserve

Katmai National Park and Preserve

Katmai National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in southern Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park covers , being roughly the size of Wales. Most of this is a designated wilderness area, including of the park...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, is the lead ship of a class of icebreaking

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...

 tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

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.

The trials were conducted in Whitefish Bay

Whitefish Bay

Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of the southern shore of Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario. It begins in the north and west at Whitefish Point in Michigan, about 10 miles north of Paradise, Michigan and ends at the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie on the southeast...

, Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 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 12.8 knots when ordering full astern power. The ship can obtain a speed of 14.7 knots.

Deployment

Katmai Bay is currently stationed at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the north-eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River...

under the command of LT Bryan Estell. She is helping the in ice breaking duties.

External links

• Katmai Bays official web page