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. . to stand for 40 hours on the bridge of the [cutter] Bear, wet,
cold and hungry, hemmed in by impenetrable masses of fog, tortured
by uncertainty, and the good ship plunging and contending with ice
seas in an unknown ocean." Capt. Michael Healy, Revenue Cutter
Bear
Healy’s quote indicates the skill and daring required of
cuttermen who have navigated the waters of Alaska, Bering Sea and
the Arctic. For over 150 years, the U.S. Coast Guard and its
ancestor agencies have played a major role in Alaska and Arctic
operations.
In 1867, there were no roads or railroads
available for transportation to or within Alaska. That year, the
Revenue Cutter Service became the federal government’s
representative in the territory. Revenue cutters did a little of
everything including the annual “Court Cruise.” Cutters transported
judges, public defenders, court clerks, and deputy U.S. Marshals to
hear criminal cases throughout the isolated region. Revenue cutters
were also responsible for protecting the native seal herds.
Between
1874 and 1913, two different cutters named Rush served on the Bering
Sea Patrol enforcing fish and game laws, including sealing
regulations. Due to these cruises, seal poachers tried to conduct
their illegal hunts before the cutters arrived for their seasonal
patrols. This practice resulted in the phrase, “Get there early to
avoid the Rush!” The Bering Sea cutters proved so successful at law
enforcement that by the end of the 1800s, the Treasury Department
charged them with enforcing virtually all Alaskan game laws.
The most famous cutter in the history of Alaska, the Bear, was
transferred to the Revenue Cutter Service in 1885. After that, Bear
patrolled the Bering Sea for 34 cruises and more than four decades.
The cutter’s first captain, “Hell Roarin’” Mike Healy, was the first
African-American commanding officer in any federal maritime service.
In a series of deliveries in the early 1890s, Healy transported
numerous reindeer to Alaska to supplement the diminishing whale and
seal populations that had served as native Alaskans’ primary food
source. He commanded several West Coast cutters before retiring in
1903 as the third-most senior officer in the Revenue Cutter Service.
In 1897, eight whaling ships became trapped in Arctic ice near Point
Barrow, Alaska. Concerned that their 265 crewmen would starve to
death, the whaling companies appealed to President William McKinley
to send a relief expedition. In late November 1897, Bear set sail
northward from Port Townsend, Washington, under the command of Capt.
Francis Tuttle. With no chance to push through the ice to Point
Barrow, Tuttle put a rescue party ashore farther south to drive a
herd of reindeer to the whaling ships. Tuttle placed Lt. David
Jarvis in charge of the party accompanied by Lt. Ellsworth Bertholf
(later commandant of the Coast Guard), Ship’s Surgeon Samuel Call
and three enlisted men. Using sleds pulled by dogs and reindeer, the
men set out on snowshoes and skis on Dec. 16. Three months and 1,500
miles later, they arrived at Point Barrow. The expedition managed to
deliver 382 reindeer to the whalers with only 66 animals lost. At
the insistence of McKinley, Bertholf, Call, and Jarvis received the
Congressional Gold Medal.
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Coast Guard Overland Relief Expedition approaches whalers
trapped in the Arctic ice in 1897. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)
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In the 20th century, the Coast Guard’s responsibilities in
Alaska grew. With formation of the modern Coast Guard in
1915, the service took responsibility for the U.S.
Life-Saving Service station at Nome. With Prohibition, the
interdiction of illegal liquor in Alaskan waters became more
important than ever. When the U.S. Lighthouse Service joined
the Coast Guard in 1939, more Alaskan shore installations
came under Coast Guard authority. In the 1940s, Coast
Guard-manned vessels served in World War II’s North Pacific
theater of operations, including weather patrols, convoy
escort duty and the re-supply of U.S. military bases. In the
1950s, Coast Guard vessels also supported the construction
of the Cold War’s Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line of radar
installations in Northern Alaska.
Finding the
Northwest Passage across the Arctic had been an ambition of
mariners since the 1500s. The establishment of the DEW Line
made it desirable to find alternative re-supply routes to
these remote outposts. So, in July 1957, the Coast Guard’s
230-foot icebreaking cutter Storis and 180-foot buoy tenders
SPAR and Bramble sailed through the Bering Sea to attempt a
crossing over the North American continent. Early on, it
became apparent that ice navigation would not be practical
for merchant ships, but the three cutters continued their
4,500-mile odyssey. To pass through the heavy ice floes,
Storis ran its bow up onto the ice and used its weight to
break the ice creating a channel for the others.
The ice floes became heavier about halfway through the trip
forcing the ships off course to the south. Storis became
lodged in the ice and when explosives failed to free it, the
crews made plans to winterize the cutters and abandon them
until spring. Storis finally broke free and the small
flotilla forged ahead and emerged in the Atlantic after 64
days. These cutters were the first American ships to make
the passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic and SPAR
later became the first ship to circumnavigate the continent.
The Coast Guard has been the sole U.S. operator of
icebreakers since 1965. That year, the U.S. Navy transferred
its icebreakers to the Coast Guard making it the federal
government’s only provider of that mission. Since the 1960s,
the Coast Guard has been assigned the responsibility for
developing and maintaining a fleet of icebreaking vessels
capable of operating effectively in the heaviest ice regions
of the Arctic. With sea ice diminishing around the North
Pole in recent years, arctic operations have increased in
importance. In August 2017, Coast Guard Cutter Maple
retraced the route of the 1957 Northwest Passage cutters 60
years after that historic feat.
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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420 ft. icebreaker, breaks ice in support of scientific research in the Arctic Ocean
during 2006. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Prentice Danner)
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For 150 years, the Coast Guard and its ancestor agencies
have played a vital role in Alaska and the Arctic. The
service’s ice operations provide the U.S. with the
capability to support national interests in ice-bound
waters, including the movement of maritime transportation,
search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental protection
and the pursuit of marine science. The service continues to
make an impact in Alaska and Arctic waters and the Coast
Guard’s ice operations mission remains as important as ever.
By William H. Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian, USCG
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2017
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