Polar class (1976)

Polar class

USCGC Polar Star

Ship data Ship type Icebreaker Shipping company United States Coast Guard Shipyard Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company ( Seattle , USA) Construction period 1976 to 1977 Units built 2 Cruising areas Arctic , Antarctic , Pacific

Ship dimensions and crew length 121.62 m ( Lüa ) width 25.46 m Draft Max. 9.14 m displacement 11,037 t measurement 13,190 GT

Machine system machine 3 × electr. Propeller motors, 6,000 hp each; Gearbox and shaft system or 3 × gas turbines ( Pratt & Whitney FT4-12), 25,000 HP each; Gear and shaft system Machine performance 75,000 PS (55,162 kW) Top speed 17.2 kn (32 km / h) Energy supply 6 × diesel engines ( FM / ALCo 16V251F), 3,500 HP each Machine performance 21,000 PS (15,445 kW) propeller 3 × 4-blade fixed propeller, Ø 4.9 m

Transport capacities Load capacity 7000 dw

The Polar- class is a class of icebreakers for the United States Coast Guard . The two ships in the class, the USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) and the USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11), were completed in 1976 and 1977 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company . The Polar Star operates from its home port of Seattle in the Pacific , the Polar Sea was decommissioned in 2010 after an engine failure.

Ship technology

Machine system and drive

The ships of the polar class are considered to be the most powerful, non -nuclear-powered icebreakers in the world (as of 2014). The drive is diesel-electric via six diesel engines of the type ALCo 16V251F, the output of which was increased from 2,250 kW to 2,590 kW after modernization in 2006. Alternatively, if the power requirement is high, the ships can be powered by three Pratt & Whitney FT-4A12 gas turbines with 18,750 kW each.

commitment

The ships can continuously break through ice sheets up to 1.80 meters thick at a speed of three knots and in sections even displace ice up to six meters thick. The ships were built before the introduction of the IACS polar classes and were roughly in the range of the PC2 / PC3 classes.

Ships of the class

Polar class
Ship name	IMO number	delivery	Decommissioning
USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10)	7367471	1976
USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11)	7391252	1977	2010

Web links

Commons : Polar class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Polar Class Icebreakers , United States Coast Guard

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Jason W. Henson: Polar class AGB. Retrieved January 7, 2014 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} United States Coast Guard: USCGC Polar Star History. Retrieved January 10, 2014 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Fairbanks Morse Press Release: USCG Polar Sea (WAGB 10) Arrives in Antarctica with Upgraded FM / ALCO 251F Engines. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 7, 2014 ; accessed on January 7, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ United States Coast Guard: USCGC Polar Sea History. Retrieved January 10, 2014 . 
5. ^ Reprieve for Seattle-based icebreaker Polar Sea . Seattle Times, Retrieved January 10, 2015.
6. ↑ Han Yu: Icebreaker Designs using Polar Class Structural Requirements , pp. 20–22 (English)