48-Hours Notice
Story and Photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Mariana O'Leary
High Resolution Images available... here
Take your pick... the end of the earth, the middle of nowhere, the coldest, windiest, driest, emptiest and generally most nasty continent in the world. A place where more solar radiation reaches the surface than is received at the Equator in an equivalent period, a place described as "mostly uninhabitable" by the Central Intelligence Agencies World Fact Book. However you look at it, this is Antarctica.
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| Petty Officer 2nd Class Pamela-Renae Rollins, a crewmember aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, uses a sextant to check the ship's position, Jan. 27, 2006. The 399-foot polar class icebreaker with a 134-person crew returns to Seattle March 29, after completing icebreaking operations in Antarctica. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer Mariana O'Leary |
These facts didn't really seem to be the crew of the bright red 399-foot Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star as they made preparations to get underway on the dreary and gray morning of Jan. 20. Maybe they didn't have time to consider what waited for them more than 8,000 miles away from their home at Pier 36 in Seattle. Maybe with only 48-hours notice to get underway, the crew was more concerned about the food that needed to be stored, the ship's spaces that needed to be secured against heaving winter Pacific swells, and of course, their families they would soon say goodbye to.
For the past 50 years the U.S. Coast Guard has deployed ships in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the National Science Foundation's (NSF) U.S. Antarctic Program, which currently maintains the McMurdo Station facility and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The 30-year-old Polar Star, a Polar Class icebreaker, has deployed 15 times to break a channel through the unpredictable miles of ice that lie between the science community that inhabit the stations year-round, and the cargo and fuel ships they rely on to deliver more than six million gallons of fuel and four thousand metric tons of cargo they need to stay operational throughout the harsh winter months.
This year, instead of using a U.S. Polar Class icebreaker, the NSF chose instead to deploy the 323-foot Russian icebreaker Krasin. As the Krasin began the task of breaking through the ice, a combination of factors came into play, said Capt. Bruce Toney, who shifted command temporarily from the Polar Sea to the Polar Star for this deployment. "First, the edge of the ice was over 70 miles from McMurdo, the second longest distance in many years and the inner channel, the last 15 miles, was a combination of multi-year rubble, creating a difficult situation for Krasin to complete an adequate channel. As time began to slip away, the Krasin broke a blade from their starboard propeller and lost a significant portion of their icebreaking capability. The blade did not appear to be easy to fix and the chance of a successful re-supply appeared in doubt so we were deployed to insure the re-supply was successful," said Toney.
Only 45-hours later, the Polar Star headed south.
"Our mission this year was to be in a standby status and to be ready to assist with the re-supply mission if necessary," said Lt. Cmdr. Jason Hamilton, the Polar Star operations officer.
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| 104-feet above the water in the Polar Star's aloft-conn, a secondary bridge used to drive the 399-foot Polar Star while in the ice, the ship heads south into the deep blue of the Pacific, Jan. 22, 2006. |
You couldn't ask for better assistance, according to Toney, he explained why the Coast Guard's Polar Class ship's which both call Seattle home, have the distinction of being the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreakers.
"When you need sheer muscle and the hull form, the Polar Classes are your breakers of choice," said Toney. With a maximum of 77,000 shaft horsepower, the Polar Classes can break 6.5 feet of ice while continuously moving forward at three knots, or can back and ram ice up to 21-feet thick, said Toney. The Polar Classes cantilevered frames are spaced closely and the special 1 3/4 inch thick high-tinseled steel hull is able to remain strong and flexible at extremely low temperatures.
The Polar Star's incredible power depends upon the highly skilled engineering department. They keep busy manning and constantly maintaining an 18,000 horsepower diesel electric plant for transit steaming and light icebreaking, and a 75,000 horsepower gas turbine plant for heavy icebreaking. The diesel electric plant consists of six large diesel engines, similar to locomotive engines, which generate electrical power that feed the three 6,000 horsepower DC motors, one on each of the three shafts. This kind of toughness is depended upon in the unpredictable Antarctic conditions.
"We have to be prepared for whatever we find down there," said Hamilton.
He explained that the traditional ice channel that Polar Star breaks into McMurdo Station is 12 to14 miles long. However, in recent years, a number of tabular icebergs that have broken off the ice shelf have blocked McMurdo Sound from the traditional currents and winds that help blow the ice out of the channel.
"We have had much longer ice edges. Last year, when we started the break in it was approximately 84 nautical miles, which was the longest in history," said Hamilton. "We modify our plans and work with what's presented. Although the crew only had 48-hours notice that we would be getting underway, the ship continuously plans and prepares for the trip to the ice, so we were ready for the call," said Hamilton."
A typical trip to Antarctica for the Polar Star means approximately six months away from homeport. Imperative and extensive damage control training is usually conducted en route to the ice, often in Honolulu or Sydney, which is a frequent stop on the way down. Because the Polar Star operates independently, far from potential help from other vessels, the ship's crew has to be highly trained in damage control, as well as first aid in order to deal with any emergency they encounter.
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| Fireman Apprentice Andrew Eichholz tries to put his mind anywhere but the sickbay of the Polar Star on Jan. 31, 2006, as he receives pain medicine in preparation for stitches, from Lt.j.g Robert Amrien, the ship's Physician Assistant. The Polar Star returned to its homeport of Seattle, March 28, after completing icebreaking operations in Antarctica. |
On this trip, the need to be self-reliant was even more critical.
"Something that's been a major concern of mine on this trip is safety," said Toney. "Because of the route that we took, we were so far from help, and we had no helicopters, two unique things about this trip. Very fortunately we have not had anyone seriously hurt, but it's always a concern. Ships are an inherently dangerous place, and we do everything we can to minimize the chances of someone being injured. On some stretches of this trip we have been four or five days away from help," said Toney.
Lt.j.g. Robert Amrien, a physician's assistant, and Chief Petty Officer Herman Joling, the ship's permanent health services specialist, made up the medical staff in the Polar Star's sickbay.
"The crew of the Polar Star was well screened for medical and dental problems before departing," said Amrien, "but are still subject to many illnesses and of course with the shipboard environment subject to much higher incidence of injury."
The medical staff is prepared and experienced, but is hindered by the lack of X-ray and lab equipment normally found in a shore-side clinic, said Amrien.
As the crew headed south, they stuck strictly to an exhaustive schedule of damage control drills through the hot tropic sun, and later the rough seas of the Southern Ocean. Their goal was to be constantly ready for any emergency. The crew lived and worked with the challenges of maintaining the unique and aging systems of a 30-year-old ship. "I think the primary obstacles were the uncertainty of the mission before we started and then once we were underway the engineering challenges we faced due to the aging plant," said Toney.
"We dealt with the uncertainty by fully assuming we were going to go, and made sure we were totally prepared or had short notice executable plans if we did get called. The engineering challenges were dealt with by the dedication, work ethic and knowledge gained on prior deployments by our key engineering personnel. For many of our key engineers this was their second or third Deep Freeze mission. We faced almost daily challenges and many times key personnel worked for more than 24 hours straight to trouble shoot and repair equipment. The end result was our faster than expected transit and our ability to begin breaking heavy ice once we arrived in the Ross Sea," said Toney.
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| Petty Officer 3rd Class William Staneart, a crewmember of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, checks the seal of his mask during a fire drill, Jan. 25, 2006. The Polar Star returns to its homeport of Seattle, March 29, after completing icebreaking operations in Antarctica. |
Although limited, the Polar Star's time in the ice allowed numerous crewmembers to receive training on driving the ship in varying ice conditions and operating the machinery during heavy icebreaking, skills which will carry over into future operations as the Coast Guard maintains its expertise in heavy icebreaking, said Toney. As the Polar Star shifted missions and began grooming the narrow ice channel, a call for assistance came in from the U.S. Naval Ship Lawrence H. Gianella. The fuel ship was pulled up onto the ice in the channel, and unable to maneuver its way back to open water. The Polar Star, happy to be in the right place at the right time, broke through the ice surrounding the Gianella, enabling the ship to be on its way.
The Polar Star spent a busy week within the ice of the Antarctic. After breaking out the Gianella and widening the channel for future icebreaking missions, the Polar Star set to the task of creating an ice runway at the lower end of channel for C-130 airplane re-supply flights. |
| Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Wallin, a marine science technician aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star collects and treats samples of sea water from the South Pacific, Feb 4, 2006. The crew of the Polar Star left their homeport of Seattle Jan. 20, to assist in icebreaking operations into McMurdo Station, Antarctica. |
"I think the biggest thing we gave people during this mission was a sense that the cavalry was there in case of need," said Hamilton. "We were ready within 40 hours, even though we were given 48. We got our entire crew together, headed south in the quickest time possible, and got to do a little icebreaking to top it off," said Hamilton.
"I think you saw an excellent example of devotion to duty in this year's Deep Freeze," said Toney. "They all worked a tremendous amount of hours to get the ship ready and conduct training and they still have high morale and a good sense of accomplishment. I couldn't be more proud of this crew and am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to sail with them," said Toney.
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