The U.S. Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker Polar Star has completed 50 years in service, marking the milestone while carrying out its annual Antarctic mission.
The vessel arrived at McMurdo Sound this month as part of Operation Deep Freeze, where it clears ice to allow supply ships to reach scientific research stations in Antarctica.
The Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only heavy icebreaker, is capable of cutting through ice up to six feet thick at a speed of three knots.
According to the Coast Guard, the vessel can also break ice as thick as 21 feet by repeatedly ramming, reversing, and ramming again when conditions require it.
The 13,500-ton ship, commissioned on 17 January 1976, is now among only three fully operational U.S. military vessels that are more than half a century old.
The other two vessels are the USS Blue Ridge, commissioned in November 1970, and the USS Nimitz, commissioned in April 1975.
The Polar Star
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