United States Coast Guard Academy - Tide Rips Yearbook (New London, CT)

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I T t If i ■ ' tl ' JL lance , » Ai 4i, Iniiiu ' diatcly following the graduation of the class of ' 47, we went on summer leave, returning at the end of June to find two ships, the Sebago and the Mackinaw, wait- ing and willing to take cadets on a cruise. The class was split into two groups; the first group entrained for Buffalo, to pick up the Mackinaw there. After a delay of a day, occasioned by a rescue operation on the Lakes, the Mackinaw pulled into the Coast Guard base at Buffalo, and we went aboard. Here we were given the usual berthing and quarters assignments, and cruise routine had begun. During the time we spent on the great white bird, we were given drills in small boat handling, fire and rescue, damage control, engineering, navigation, and gen- eral seamanship. We had our first opportu- nity to stand O.D. watches, and became fa- faniiliar with responsibility. During the cruise we visited Milwaukee, Mackinac Island, Cheboygan, Calcite, Detroit, Erie, and Buffalo. We took a tour of the lime- stone quarry, saw the mammoth steam shovels big enough to hold twenty men; took another tour of Ford ' s River Rouge Plant, and were initiated into the mysteries of an assembly line; saw the insides of steel plants, tool and die plants, and foundries: and saw how they loaded the ore boats. Dances were thrown on board for visitors at various ports, and the citizens cooperated by throwing their own shindigs. Ready to go Good liberty in thai

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The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw formed half of our summer ' s cruise. She is the world ' s largest icehreaker, and operates on the Great Lakes, being busily engaged each fall and spring in keeping the shipping lanes open as long as possible for the great ore carriers. The Mackinaw has three screws — two aft, and another forward, near the bow — this unusual arrangement enables her to literally turn on a dime — as of the present time, there hasn t been any ice formed that can stop her. With a beam of over 70 feet, and a length in excess of 270 feet, she is a very comfortable vessel to ride. Possessed with turbo-electric drive, she is powered by six Fairbanks Morse opposed piston diesel engines which provide the power to drive the three D.C. motors through generators. The steering was entirely electric — electric motors driving the rudder arm on a geared quadrant. She also had a unique system for changes in trim and heel — being able to shift ballast and complete one rolling cycle in 45 seconds — this is of prime importance in breaking through stubborn ice blocks. Her navigational equipment consisted, in part, of radar and R.D.F. Aft. she had a special automatic tension adjusting towing winch, and two Westinghouse cranes for raising and lowering boats, and other heavy work as required. 26

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SEBAGO CRUISE U.S.C.G.C. Sebaco The U.S.C.G.C. SEBAGO is a 255 foot cutter, approximately 2200 tons displacement, tur- bo-electric drive, boiler pressure about 600 psi. 4000 shaft horsepower. She has a beam in the neighborhood of forty feet, and since she has a fairly high metacentric height, her motion in a seaway left something to be de- sired. There is a designed drag of 3 feet (in certain low circles, this class has been jestingly referred to as the Fiasco Class — jokingly, of course.) She had loran and radar and the usual R.D.F. Due to the fact that men were Ijeing dis- charged from the service as rapidly as pos- sible at that time, there existed a severe manpower shortage, with the net result that the Bag was manned with only a skeleton crew. She had just left the yard at Curtis Bay, and there was considerable work of the protective maintenance type to be per- formed — and, you guessed it, we did the per- forming. It got so that we even shied away from using tooth brushes — they reminded us too much of the wire brushes. We stood watches similar to the ones we stood on the Mackinaw — with the addition of 2 1 hour duty as Navigator — this jol) con- sisted mainly of hiding out up in the weather shack, plotting our positions, and taking a squint at the bridge ' s chart to make sure that we were in the general area. This por- tion of the cruise was marked by numerous formations — it was almost a sure thing that as soon as you lay down, or even looked at a book (textbook, of course I there would be a raucous request for our immediate presence on the fantail . There were note- books to be filled out, and quizzes to be taken in gunnery, engineering, and nav. The liberty on this cruise was what might be termed scanty — Antigua proved to be one of the better ports, and when that hap- pens, you might as well stay on board. There did happen to be an Army base there, and the day was marked by long streams of tired cadets wending their way across the island in search of ice-cream and cokes. We also made a stop in the Virgin Islands, and in Bermuda. When we hit Nassau, the local in- habitants very nicely threw a dance for us, which we all enjoyed. Nevertheless, we did gain considerable practical experience, and our first real insight into the hidden mech- anisms and inner workings of the sei-vice.