This 1970s Coast Guard film entitled ICE (narrated by John Flynn) shows the icy gauntlet of the arctic, the Bering Sea, North Atlantic and Alaska. The film briefly shows the history of USCG exploration in the Arctic including pioneering cutters. In 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an ice berg, prompting the USCG to carry out an International Ice Patrol. This work is now carried out primarily by aircraft, as the film shows, which bomb ice bergs with dye markers. WWII Coast Guard activity in Greenland is shown with rare color footage of exercises and landings. At the 4:24, ice breakers are seen operating in the polar regions including USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279), which was a Wind-class icebreaker that was built for the United States Coast Guard. Completed in time to see action in World War II, she continued in USCG service under the same name until decommissioned in 1968.
The work of ice breakers is seen at the 5 minute mark, with blunt nose river tenders shown on the upper Mississippi River. Seagoing buoy tenders are seen operating on the Hudson River. Coast Guard tugs work in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and other cities in mid-December through April. The Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw is seen at the 6:30 mark operating on Whitefish Bay. Helicopters are seen operating at the 8 minute mark, part of operations in the arctic to conduct surveys and support the construction of military outposts. At 8:37, Little America and Antarctica are seen, with the Coast Guard supporting operations on the ice at the bottom of the world.
USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) is a 290-foot (88 m) vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes.
Mackinaw was homeported in Cheboygan, Michigan during active service. Due to Mackinaw ’s age and expensive upkeep, the cutter was decommissioned and replaced with a smaller multipurpose cutter USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), which was commissioned in Cheboygan the same day.
In 2002 the crew of this cutter painted and refurbished the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.
The old Mackinaw moved under its own power on 21 June 2006 from the port of its decommissioning to a permanent berth at the SS Chief Wawatam dock at the ship’s namesake port, Mackinaw City, Michigan where she now serves as a museum ship known as Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum.
The International Ice Patrol is an organization with the purpose of monitoring the presence of icebergs in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and reporting their movements for safety purposes. It is operated by United States Coast Guard but is funded by the 13 nations interested in trans-Atlantic navigation. As of 2011 the governments contributing to the International Ice Patrol include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The organization was established in 1914 in response to the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The primary mission of the Ice Patrol is to alert any seacraft traveling the great circle shipping lanes between Europe and the major ports of the United States and Canada of the presence of any icebergs there.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
