USCGC Northwind ( WAGB - 282 ) USCGC " Northwind " ( WAG / WAGB - 282 ) , " The Grand Old Lady of the North " , was a " Wind " - class icebreaker , the second United States Coast Guard Cutter of her class to bear the name . She was built to replace USCGC " Northwind / Staten Island " ( WAG - 278 ) which was in U . S . S . R . lend - lease service . During her career , " Northwind " conducted extensive oceanography , hydrography and cartography studies , as well as icebreaking , during Operation Nanook and Operation Highjump . " Northwind " was the last " Wind " - class icebreaker when she was decommissioned in Wilmington , North Carolina on 20 January 1989 after 44 years of service . Construction . " Northwind " was one of the icebreakers designed by Lieutenant commander Edward Thiele and Gibbs & Cox of New York , who modeled them after plans for European icebreakers he obtained before the start of World War II . She was the fifth of seven completed ships of the " Wind " - class of icebreaker s operated by the United States Coast Guard . She was laid down on 20 July 1944 at Western Pipe and Steel Company shipyards in San Pedro , California , launched on 25 February 1945 and commissioned on 28 July 1945 . Rear Admiral Ralph W . Dempwolf , Commander , 9th Coast Guard District presided over the ceremony with his wife , Mrs . Mabelle C . Dempwolf , serving as the sponsor . Her hull was of unprecedented strength and structural integrity , with a relatively short length in proportion to the great power developed , a cut away forefoot , rounded bottom , and fore , aft and side heeling tanks . Diesel electric machinery was chosen for its controllability and resistance to damage . " Northwind " , along with the other Wind - class icebreakers , was heavily armed for an icebreaker due to her design being crafted during World War II . Her main battery consisted of two twin - mount deck gun s . Her anti - aircraft weaponry consisted of three quad - mounted Bofors 40 mm anti - aircraft autocannons and six Oerlikon 20 mm autocannons . She also carried six K - gun depth charge projectors and a Hedgehog as anti - submarine weapon s . After the war her aft 5 ” mount was replaced by a helicopter deck , sometime after 1964 the forward mount was removed . Service history . 1940s . Operation Nanook . " Northwind " ' s first major mission was Operation Nanook from 22 July – 05 August 1946 . The objective of Operation Nanook was to assist in a Danish - American project to establish a radio and weather station in Thule , Greenland . This area later became Thule Air Force Base . From July through September 1946 the first helicopter deployment from a Coast Guard icebreaker occurred when Aviation Pilot First Class John A Olson and AMN1 Richard H . Dowst , observer , flew an HNS - 1 Sikorsky R - 4 from " Northwind " off the Greenland coast . This deployment ; in support of the International Ice Patrol , included the first helicopter landings at Thule , Greenland ; Crozier Island and Winter Harbor , Melville Island . On 27 July 1946 , " Northwind " was grounded on an uncharted pinnacle while entering Dundas Harbour , Devon Island , Nunavut but was refloated ten hours later without serious damage . Operation Highjump . From December 1946 through January 1947 " Northwind " participated in Operation Highjump as part of Central Group ( Task Group 68 ) , under the command of Captain Charles W . Thomas , with one of the operation ' s primary missions being to establish the research base Little America IV . She was the only United States Coast Guard vessel to participate in the naval exercise and became the first U . S . Coast Guard cutter to cross the Antarctic Circle . She also completed the first major rescue missions of a submarine beset in ice when she twice broke out the damaged . " Northwind " also rescued , , and which were beset and damaged in the ice floe at the Antarctic Circle . The first helicopter flight to base Little America IV was accomplished by Lieutenant James Cornish , as pilot , and Photographers Mate Chief Everett Mashburn , as observer , from " Northwind " on 15 January 1947 . Her crew played the first baseball game , the first double header ( all without lights ) , and the first golf tournament in Antarctica . First Bering Sea patrol . During May to August 1948 " Northwind " conducted her first Bering Sea Patrol , the first in eight years , as the patrol had been suspended during World War II . She functioned as a " floating court " for a United States federal judge and staff , while U . S . Coast Guard medical personnel and United States Public Health Service officers on board provided medical and dental aid to hundreds of isolated Aleutian villagers . She also delivered and dispatched the U . S . Mail for remote Arctic outposts , lightships and lighthouses . She performed law enforcement , search and rescue , ice - escort for other ships and weather observation and reporting . Other duties of the Bering Sea Patrol were fishery monitoring , wildlife study , oceanographic and hydrographic research , re - supplying remote units , ethnological studies of the Aleuts , laying cables , and environmentally related missions . " Northwind " was a research platform for geophysical studies performed by scientists and students from universities in the Pacific Northwest , and California . In 1949 " Northwind " returned to the Arctic and in subsequent years served on several U . S . Navy expeditions to the region , 1950s . In 1952 " Northwind " broke the polar icebreaking record for miles sailed north of the Arctic Circle in one season : . She was the first ship to break through into Thule , Greenland as early as 28 May 1952 although Thule is normally ice - locked until summer . During 1953 " Northwind " conducted a Bering Sea Patrol . During this patrol " Northwind " freed USS LST - 1048 which was beset in the Beaufort Sea near Barter Island Alaska . USS LST - 1048 was on a supply mission to support Distant Early Warning Line construction and was freed by ice - demolition . From 12 July to 29 September 1954 " Northwind " participated in the Canadian - U . S . Beaufort Sea Expedition . The mission was to perform an oceanographic and hydrographic surveys of the waters surrounding Banks Island . She was accompanied by and . When the three ships rendezvoused 25 August 1954 off the coast of Melville Island , it was the first time ships sailing from east and west met in the Northwest Passage . This cruise was also the first where vessels transited McClure Strait and circumnavigated Banks Island . The transit was completed on 4 September 1954 . From February through April 1955 " Northwind " sailed on a Bering Sea scientific expedition . During July through September 1955 " Northwind " supported Distant Early Warning Line operations . From November 1956 through April 1957 " Northwind " participated in Operation Deep Freeze II , as part of Task Force 43 , in the Antarctic , and Northwind Glacier in Victoria Land was named after her . " Northwind " sailed again on Operation Deep Freeze IV from December 1958 through February 1959 . 1960s . From 5 through 25 July 1962 and 6 through 19 September 1962 , " Northwind " conducted oceanographic experiments in the Chukchi Sea in cooperation with universities of the Pacific Northwest . From 2 through 26 October 1962 , she conducted more oceanographic experiments in East Siberian Sea and Arctic Ocean . From 7 August to 18 September 1963 , she conducted oceanographic experiments in the Chukchi Sea , East Siberian Sea , and Laptev Sea seas in cooperation with the University of Southern California , and was awarded the Coast Guard Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device . From July to October 1964 , she conducted Bering Sea Patrol and carried out oceanographic experiments in the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea . The cutter ' s crew installed an unmanned oceanographic station in Fairway Rock , Alaska to measure currents in the Bering Strait . She also escorted ships re - supplying the Distant Early Warning Line and laid cables . In July 1965 , " Northwind " , under the command of Captain Kingdrel N . Ayers , conducted an oceanographic survey between Greenland , Iceland , and Scotland and was the first western vessel to operate in the Kara Sea of the Soviet Union , for which she received the Coast Guard Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device . The ( then ) classified mission of " Northwind " was to attempt a transit of the Northeast Passage . The effort was not successful and caused a diplomatic incident between the U . S . S . R . and U . S . A . In mid - October 1965 " Northwind " escorted the disabled Swedish " MV Orion " in the North Atlantic , while in seas , to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence , Canada . In 1966 " Northwind " returned to Fairway Rock and the crew helped install a Strontium - 90 Radioisotope thermoelectric generator ( RTG ) and additional oceanographic sensors . " Northwind " then cruised the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea doing oceanographic surveys . From July through August 1967 , " Northwind " conducted a current and hydrographic survey in the Bering Strait and resupplied Fairway Rock . During this Bering Sea Patrol , on 23 July 1967 , " Northwind " diverted to respond to the distress call of Canadian Survey Ship ( CSS ) " Richardson " of the Canadian Hydrographic Service and was assisted by CCGS " Camsell " . " Richardson " was beset in ice northwest of Point Barrow , Alaska ; heavily damaged and in imminent danger of loss . As " Northwind " broke out " Richardson " , " Camsell " took the tow and she was taken to Tuktoyaktuk , Northwest Territories for repair . From September to November 1967 , " Northwind " was beset by ice north - northwest of Point Barrow , Alaska . She was freed by , , and . During this cruise " Northwind " made the northern - most penetration into Arctic pack ice by any surface vessel in history at the time . Between March and September 1968 , she provided ice escort for the National Science Foundation research vessel RV " Alpha Helix " , then operated by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at La Jolla , California . This operation was conducted in the Bering Sea . From 9 June to 15 July 1969 " Northwind " conducted an oceanographic survey in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea , with , and scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Washington . From 8 through 22 September 1969 , " Northwind " , Captain Donald J . McCann , USCG , Commanding , and the Canadian icebreaker escorted the supertanker , of the Humble Oil and Refining Company , from Resolute Bay , Canada to Prudhoe Bay , Alaska where she was relieved by on transit of the Northwest Passage . provided support during the eastward leg of the expedition . During the expedition " Northwind " lost a main engine bearing and the Engineer Division attempted repairs while underway , and went on to complete the Northwest Passage transit . Then , " Northwind " tested ice and returned to Seattle , Washington having transited and became the first surface vessel to conduct both a West to East and East to West transit of the Northwest Passage in a single season . 1970s . From 20 January through 9 April 1970 " Northwind " conducted an Arctic West Summer patrol and oceanographic cruise . The cutter ' s northern - most penetration into the Arctic pack ice was at on 13 March 1970 . This broke her 1967 surface vessel record by , and set a new record . From 23 June through 28 September 1970 " Northwind " served on Arctic Operations . Her duties included laying cables , oceanographic studies , and re - supplying the Distant Early Warning Line . On 13 July 1970 " Northwind " rescued two crewmen from a ditched helicopter near the Yukon - Kuskokwim Delta in Norton Sound . Due to the discovery of oil on the North Slope of Alaska in 1971 , " Northwind " surveyed the area that year . She also broke out an icebound convoy of twenty tugboats and forty barges en route to Prudhoe Bay , Alaska in 1971 . From 1971 to 1972 " Northwind " sailed on Operation Deep Freeze to the Antarctic . She was once again in the Antarctic for Operation Deep Freeze from 1972 to 1973 . During June and July 1973 " Northwind " conducted oceanographic research in Alaskan waters . From 1973 to 1975 Northwind underwent extensive machinery modernization and electronic modification at the U . S . Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay , Maryland and was stationed in Baltimore , Maryland . During the summer of 1975 , " Northwind " conducted an Arctic West Summer cruise . From 6 October 1976 to 13 April 1977 " Northwind " broke ice during Operation Deep Freeze with Task Force 99 in Antarctica . From 13 to 18 September 1977 " Northwind " assisted in patrolling the America ' s Cup race at Newport , RI . On 28 April 1978 " Northwind " assisted a U . S . Navy Landing Craft Mechanized extinguish a fire in the Caribbean . From 10 July to 10 December 1978 " Northwind " undertook an Arctic cruise . From 3 November 1979 until 24 March 1980 " Northwind " joined in Operation Deep Freeze to the Antarctic . From 1978 to 1989 " Northwind " was stationed at Wilmington , North Carolina and did icebreaking in the Great Lakes . 1980s . From 26 September 1981 to 13 December 1981 " Northwind " made a cruise to the Arctic . On 16 February 1984 " Northwind " accomplished the MEDEVAC of a woman from a sailing vessel west of Bermuda . On 5 August 1984 " Northwind " assisted a personal craft off Kulusuk , Greenland . On 4 November 1984 Northwind seized " P / C Alexi I " , southwest of Jamaica carrying of marijuana . " Northwind " was participating in " Operation Wagonwheel Forces " an inter - agency narcotics interdiction effort in the Caribbean from 31 October to 31 November 1984 . She became the first icebreaker to make a narcotics seizure and broke the previous tonnage record set by . This was a marijuana seizure record that stands as of 2012 . From 2 July to 21 July 1986 " Northwind " assisted the Danish and Greenland governments in reestablishing a musk - ox herd in northwest Greenland . In January 1988 " Northwind " was drydocked in Wilmington , NC . The last mission of " Northwind " was an Arctic East Summer ( AES ) 1988 cruise , the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment ( CEAREX ) . Her role was to serve as ice - escort for the Norwegian research vessel , RV " Polarbjørn " . " Northwind " broke ice in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas , northward to the Svalbard archipelago of Norway from September 1988 through October 1988 . " Northwind " then returned to homeport in Wilmington , North Carolina . Prior to decommissioning " Northwind " went on a goodwill cruise to Canadian and U . S . ports . Decommissioning . " Northwind " was decommissioned in Wilmington , North Carolina on 20 January 1989 and transferred to the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia . She was the last remaining of the original seven U . S . built " Wind " - class icebreakers . " Northwind " was scrapped at International Shipbreakers , Port of Brownsville , Texas in 1999 . The scrapping operation took nearly 6 months to complete . Awards . " Northwind " earned two Coast Guard Unit Commendation s , both with Operational Distinguishing Device s , during oceanographic experiments in 1963 and 1965 . She was awarded three Meritorious Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device for the periods of 14 December 1977 to 10 April 1978 , 1 May 1983 to 6 May 1984 and 16 October 1984 to 26 October 1984 . During deployments to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba for the periods of 15 October 1976 to 5 November 1976 and 1 March 1982 to 31 March 1982 , she also received two Coast Guard E Ribbon s .