USS Glacier (AGB-4)
USCGC Glacier approaching the harbor at Winter Quarters Bay, McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
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 United States of America
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| Name: | USS Glacier (AGB-4) |
| Namesake: | Glacier Bay, Alaska |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
| Yard number: | 580 |
| Laid down: | 3 August 1953 |
| Launched: | 27 August 1954 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Roscoe F. Good |
| Christened: | 27 August 1954 |
| Commissioned: | 27 May 1955 |
| Decommissioned: | 1966 |
| Struck: | 30 June 1966 |
| Homeport: | Boston Massachusetts USA |
| Identification: | IMO number: 6123672 |
| Motto: | Follow Me! |
| Nickname(s): | Mighty G (USN) |
| Honors and awards: |
Navy Unit Commendation |
| Fate: | Transferred to the United States Coast Guard, 30 June 1966 |
 United States of America
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| Name: | USCGC Glacier (WAGB-4) |
| Acquired: | 30 June 1966 |
| Decommissioned: | 7 July 1987 |
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| Fate: | Broken up in 2012 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Glacier class icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 8,449 long tons (8,585 t) full load |
| Length: | 309 ft 6 in (94.34 m) |
| Beam: | 74 ft (23 m) |
| Draft: | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17.6 knots (32.6 km/h; 20.3 mph) |
| Range: | 29,200 nautical miles (54,100 km; 33,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
4 lifeboats, 1 LCVP, and 1 Greenland Cruiser, later 1 Arctic Survey Boat |
| Complement: | 14 officers, 2 warrant officers, 225 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 2 helicopters. Air detachment: 4 officers/pilots and 10 enlisted maintenance technicians/aircrew personnel |
| Aviation facilities: | Flight deck with retractable hangar, and overhead crane for aircraft engine service |
USS Glacier (AGB-4) (later USCGC Glacier (WAG/WAGB-4)) was a U.S. Navy, then U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker which served in the first through fifteenth Operation Deep Freeze expeditions. Glacier was first icebreaker to make her way through the frozen Bellingshausen Sea, and most of the topography in the area is named for her crewmembers. When built, Glacier had the largest capacity single armature DC motors ever installed on a ship.Glacier was capable of breaking ice up to 20 feet (6.1 m) thick, and of continuous breaking of 4-foot (1.2 m) thick ice at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).
Named for Glacier Bay, Alaska, the USS Glacier (AGB-4) was launched on 27 August 1954 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Mississippi, sponsored by Mrs. Roscoe F. Good; and commissioned on 27 May 1955, CDR. E.H. Mayer USN, Commanding. Glacier is the only icebreaker built in the Glacier class, and was in U.S. Navy service for 11 years, and U.S. Coast Guard service for 21 years.
The Glacier was essentially an improved Wind-class icebreaker, larger and more powerful. Like them, her entire hull was designed for great strength. With a relatively short length in proportion to the great power developed, her bow had the characteristic sloping forefoot that enabled her to ride up on heavy ice and break it with the weight of the vessel. The stern was similarly shaped to facilitate breaking ice while backing down. The sides of the icebreaker were rounded, with marked tumble home, and she had fore, aft and side heeling tanks that enabled the ship to break free from ice by heeling from side to side and changing trim fore to aft. Diesel electric machinery was chosen for its controlability and resistance to damage.
Glacier's shakedown cruise and maiden voyage were combined in "Operation Deep Freeze I", as flagship for RADM Richard E. Byrd USN, Ret. Her first encounter with the ice was in December 1955, breaking through the Ross Ice Pack, she carved out an ice harbor in Kainan Bay to allow the discharge of cargo from vessels at the site for Little America V. Glacier continued 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) west to break ice into an off-loading site to establish the U.S. Naval Air Facility at McMurdo Sound. In March 1956, Glacier explored the Weddell Sea. Glacier then surveyed Vincennes Bay in Wilkes Land and made the first landing in history on the Princess Martha and Princess Astrid coasts. Glacier returned to Boston, her home port, on 6 May 1956 after these accomplishments.
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Wikipedia