CGC POLAR STAR plows through ice in Antarctic waters. The Polar Star is currently the only operational 399-foot polar class icebreaker.
US Coast Guard
The US Coast Guard operates one of the most powerful non-nuclear ships in the world. The Polar Star, along with her sister ship the Polar Sea, are true tanks of the ocean and plow some of the harshest seas in the world without difficulty.
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Featuring 18,000 horsepower diesel engines and 75,000 horsepower through gas turbines, two inches of steel hull, and a unique design, the Polar Star can crush through the ice to make way for cargo ships or save vessels suck in the Antarctic ice. It also helps maintain access to US scientific bases in Antarctica.
On February 13, the 39-year-old Polar Star once more entered the spotlight after it rescued an Australian fishing vessel. According to The Navy Times, the fishing boat was locked in between 12 to 15-foot ice that had another two feet of snow on top of it.
Here's a look at one of the most unique vessels in the US military.
The engines aboard the Polar Star, in conjunction with the ship's curved bow, allow the vessel to break through ice of up to 21 feet in thickness. The ship can steam continuously through ice three feet thick without difficulty.
REUTERS/U.S. Coast Guard
The Polar Star is able to cut paths through Antarctic waters that cargo ships can then follow.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star opens a channel through the ice to the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for the supply ship Ocean Giant, Jan. 26, 2015. Polar Star's crew is participating in Operation Deep Freeze 2015, part of the U.S. Antarctic program, managed by NSF.
Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener/US Coast Guard
On February 11, an Australian fishing boat became stuck in the Antarctic waters.
In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the Austrailian fishing vessel the Antarctic Chieftain is seen from the the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star as the cutter begins breaking up the ice around the vessel Friday Feb. 13, 2015. Rescuers on Saturday reached a fishing boat with 26 people aboard trapped in ice near Antarctica and plan to use an unmanned underwater vehicle to assess the damage to it. The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star traveled several hundred nautical miles through heavy ice to reach the Antarctic Chieftan.
Lt. j.g. Gina Caylor/US Coast Guard/AP
The Polar Star reached the stranded vessel by February 13, broke the ice around it, and set up tow lines between the ships
Members of the military dive team aboard Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star launch a remote operated vehicle into the water to inspect the disabled fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain, beset by ice near Cape Burks, Antarctica, Feb. 14, 2015. Dive team members used the ROV to inspect Antarctic Chieftain's damaged propellers. Polar Star's crew has been underway in Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2015, part of the U.S. Antarctic Program, managed by the National Science Foundation
Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener/US Coast Guard
The Polar Star then towed the Australian vessel through its cleared wake and into open water.
The disabled fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain is towed astern of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star through sea ice near Antarctica, Feb. 14, 2015. Polar Star's crew will tow Antarctic Chieftain to the safety of open water. Polar Star's crew has been underway in Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2015, part of the U.S. Antarctic Program, managed by the National Science Foundation.
Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener/US Coast Guard
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