Stuck in the North Pole: Life Inside US Largest Icebreaker Ever Built

Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on some innovative cutters and helicopters the US Coast Guard uses to conduct scientific research, search, and rescue ships in distress in the Arctic Ocean.

Fluctus is a website and YouTube channel dedicated to sea geeks. Whenever you are curious or an incorrigible lover of this mysterious world, our videos are made for you !

We publish 3 videos a week on our Youtube channel and many more articles on our website.

Feel free to subscribe to not miss any of our updates and visit our website to discover additional content.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter:

Please keep the comments section respectful. Any spam, insults or troll will be deleted.

To contact us, make sure to use our email in the about section of this channel.

[trex]

So glad I went Aviation in my career in the USCG. Air Sta Kodiak, St. Augustine, Clearwater, ATC Mobile, Corpus (6 months) and back to ATC Mobile. The last 7 years of my "military" career I lived in the house I grew up in and was able to care for my aging father. Loved being a Coastie.

[mbroton]

I got the opportunity to spend 60 days on the USCG Healy as a cinematographer. It was the trip of a lifetime!

[vegatofu]

The best videos from the best team. Thanks all, from Viet Nam

[toupac]

I design airplane parts for a living. Ship building engineers absolutely blow my mind.

[moshunit]

Love that time lapse of the engine installation.

[deanbone]

I would love a video of the engine replacement. Thanks for producing this quality content!

[ericbush]

Beautiful looking Cutter I Proudly served aboard a wind Class Ice Breaker Northwind 1978-79 as a FN in A-Gang Auxiliary Engineering we deployed for Artic West trip it was a trip and amazing. First billet out of boot camp at RTC Cape May NJ

[jacobwalters]

I work at the coast guard yard in Maryland we’ve got to work on these plus other ice breakers it’s crazy seeing the bulkheads of the ship all wavy over time from use of breaking though and hitting the ice

[behramcooper]

18 crew members were evacuated, not evaluated.

[bretgreen]

The US Coast Guard is made up of extremely brave women and men. I once found myself in a bit of a stormy "situation" in my Alden 18 Ocean Shell in Northern California. The crew aboard a Coast Guard cutter spotted my struggles and they placed themselves in danger trying to assist me. Conditions were so treacherous it took many attempts for them to pull up close enough to offer assistance. I actually waved them off as I still had full control of my 10' oars (I actually preferred continuing on to a "who knows what" type of rescue attempt) . The fact that I was able to ultimately bring myself ashore does not diminish the risks that crew willingly took on that memorable windswept day. . .

[goneswimming]

... Cutter Healy calls at the Port of Baltimore before returning to its home port in Seattle...." (Time stamp 8:46). This was after Cutter Healy's work in Alaska. Did I hear that correctly?

[papabits]

The Russians have the best icebreaker's.

[lisacolbert]

I was surprised to see this vessel/captain was kind enough or even allowed to tow the 36’ sailboat to open waters. I’d thought that it was the law of the land, hehe, that rescues were never to include vessels as well as souls. Looked like a fairly valuable boat (must’ve been to have made it safely so far north, I guess) that the owner would’ve suffered it’s loss.

[donmarsh]

Rock On/ Our Coasties “ unappreciated in my views !

[CelestialTrailblazer]

Exterior wise, it looks like a generic regular ship. What exactly does it possess that helps break ice other than just the weight of the ship itself moving through ice ? That's what I want to know.

[miketorre]

nice to see Ice in the north pole, unlike what they show us on google earth

[rronmar]

Sadly the Healy is an ice resistant science vessel, and not a very good icebreaker. She has a lot of HP, but sadly with fixed pitch propellers she cannot employ all of it from a standstill, such as when setting in ice. This and her stern design inhibit her ability to back up and ram at thick ice, a necessary ability for any true icebreaker

[tcuscg]

4.5ft of ice at more like 3kts, not 20. Unless someone is slipping go juice in the tank, it's top speed is 17. But still a cool platform. Time to replace the Polar Rollers with a more capable breaker, which could run rings around Healy on a bad day.

[josephpadula]

At about 9:46 he says the speed
In knots per hour!!!!
Knot Means Nautical miles per hour.

So he gave an acceleration not speed…..

[mrben]

Healy is a medium icebreaker. It can only continuously break 4.5 feet of ice. The old Polar Class heavy icebreakers like Polar Star can break 21 feet of ice. The difference in ice breaking capabilities is enormous. The fact the USCG has only one operational heavy icebreaker and she's in dire need of retirement shows the USA is a waning power.