Glacier (WAGB 4) - Naval Cruise Book

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Returning home .April 20. I did another quick about-tace and prepared for AWS 76: departing July 26 to cam out the Submarine .Arctic Warfare Project and SLAR Project demon- stration (Side Looking .Airborne Radar i Both projects proved to be a great success. During this cruise I discovered a slew of shallow uncharted reefs around 72 -037 1 161 -5CAV. Hav- ing bumped my butt on uncharted shoals several times. I know how it feels. - not good! Consequently. I guess they have become an obsession with me. as I am constantly on the look out for them. We returned to Long Beach in late October where 1 missed my second deep freeze voyage with a much needed rest and maintenance period that lasted until my departure in the spring of 1977 on AWS June 8. This time 1 had aboard Dr. Carleton Ray ' s scientific party of four women scientists to stuck walrus behavior in the Chuk- chi Sea. Divers dove to 135-feet for underwater photography of these mammals in their natural habitat. During this trip 1 made my farthest easterly penetration of the .Arctic to 70 - HIS ' 141 -28AV. Returning home September 23. I made ready for my November 15 departure on DF 78. and my 21st .Antarctic voyage This was the first Deep Freeze that I had the opportunity to work with the new Coast Guard Polar class icebreaker POLAR ST.AR Hummph. — very big — very red — impres- sive — but lots of bugs to work out still - like mechanical problems - know what I mean? At least Ive been reliable from dav one, thanks to my simple basic design, and mv loving and talented crews. Oh well, I suppose I shouldn ' t get cattv. On Januarv 12. 1 made mv southernmost pene- tration of the eastern part of the Ross Ice Shelf at 78 -25 S 164 -20 ' W. I guess seeing the struggling Polar ship gave mv crew incentive, because we arrived home April 5 with all ten main engines on the line. — a First — in manv vears. Julv 4 brought AWS 78. and the usual Bering and Chukchi Sea operations. You know - between June 8. 1977 and August 14, 1978, I was underway 286 days; completing two AWS ' s and one DF w ith only a seven week and a 12 week availability! L pon completing AWS 78, we had 54 davs in port before departing November 1 5 upon Deep Freeze 79! .And depart 1 did — right on schedule: following my well wom track across the Pacific to New Zealand, thence to .Antarctica I took over the channel breaking job at McMurdo on this, my 22nd Deep Freeze, when the primary icebreaker assigned suffered mechanical problems (now. now. GLACIER — hold your tongue ole gal! ) Anyway, the entire cruise was pretty routine except for the incident on February 8. 1979. when another of my young petty officers was fatally injured at McMurdo base in a fork-lift accident while offloading the L ' SNS BLAND. We were all saddened by this unfortunate event and it left a pallor on the usual festive mood of the homeward trip. We retraced our way across the Pacific via Sydney and Pago Pago on our return to Long Beach, arriv- ing there .April 6. A summer availability was followed by another November departure on Deep Freeze 80. number 23. Completing the channel at McMurdo with the CGC POLAR SLA (the second new bigger red one). I got right at work in my assigned scientific areas. cfisco ering on December 25. three large submarine canyons over 1.000 meters deep, including Big Red Canvon (named after me - naturally!), just off the continental shelf of Victoria Land. On December 26. 1 discovered an unusually deep submarine basin off Cape Hooker: this one too over 1 ,000 meters deep. On January 1. 1980, I discovered a sea mountain chain rising from 2.000 meters deep up to 100 meters.extendingfrom7o-35 S 169-30 ' Eto70-20 ' s 169 -00 ' E: which was believed to be an extension of the Bal- lenv Fracture Zone. While enroute Wellington. I had mv LCVP ripped right off my deck the night of February 25th during a severely violent storm! Luckily, no one got hurt when that happened! The return home was again made the long way from Wellington via Raoul Island: ar- riving Long Beach on March 22. 1980. My summer 1980 availability was the most extensive since my initial retrofit after being acquired from the Navy. Over S3 million was used to install a marine sanitary system, rehabilitate the galley, mess deck, and all the berthing areas. (During this period I received my fourth Navy Meritorious Unit commendation award for my participation in DF 79). Still. I sailed November 19 on Deep Freeze 81 with only 6 of my ten main engines operable, and 3 of my four generators usable. Two first class petty officers from Fleet Training Group. San Diego, sailed with us from Fleet Training Group. San Diego, sailed with us to Fiji: holding General Emergency drills four times a week and conducting classroom training to bring the crew up to standards. This was also my first cruise with a complement of Coast Guard women onboard 2 officers and 17 enlisted 1 remember hearing the men ask . . . how in heaven ' s name is this going to work out? Will we have coffee clatches every morning Will we have to secure in the afternoons to watch soaps?... But they were sur- prised. The women adapted superbly to the stresses and strains of life aboard a ship at sea. and working with men in an isolated work environment. They worked out great, and I became as proud of them as I was of my men. In fact, they became quite the hit of the New Zealanders. who were amazed the women would accept the rigors of polar ice breaker duty! We worked with the CGC POLAR ST.AR this year, breaking channel into McMurdo: then I proceeded independently on my usual scientific fora s; after which. 1 took the shorter route home up the west coast of South .America via Valparaiso. Callao. and Mazatlan: arriving home March 26. 1981.

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ceeding as far north as Buenos Aires. Even with two blades missing off my starboard propeller; I finally managed to break free, turn myself around (although it took 12 hours to do so), and slowly break out toward open water. A close call — but — I told you I ' d never spend the winter in Antarctica! We arrived back in Ushuaia by March 15 and retrieved my scattered crew. The GENERAL SAN MARTIN freed herself when winds and ice shifted. Stops at Valpa- raiso, Callao, and Mazatlan rounded out an exciting DF 75 with our arrival home April 21, 1975. THE THIRD DECADE - THE DECADE OF TROUBLES A quick yard availability with unscheduled drydocking from May 1 to June 23 for the propeller damages suffered during DF 75 (I had resigned myself that I wouldn ' t be get- ting anymore belly-rubs or new blades in Wellington), and I was ready to depart July 15 for AWS 75 for continued Con- ductivity, Temperature, Depth, and Current Meter Stations in the Bering and Chukchi Seas; and do a MIZPAC Operation (Marginally Ice Zone Pacific). AWS 75 was unique primarily due to ice conditions reported to be the worst in 80 years. In the past, resupply ships and barges arrived at Ft. Barrow, Alaska, no later than August 22. During summer 75, 10 tugs and barges slipped past Pt. Barrow enroute to Prudhoe Bay on September 3, leaving the barges in the bay to winter- over. Vessels resupplying Pt. Barrow did not get through. Offloading would have been impossible due to shore-fast ice in the area. We arrived home September 30, and left for San Diego and an interim training period on October 6, upon the completion of which, we returned for a short 30-day home stay before being under way again November 20 for DF 76, my twentieth, which again proved to be a little out of the norm. A case of viral hepatitis was recorded onboard while at McMurdo Station; resulting in a 3-day quarantine of both me and the station, while all personnel were innoculated from January 5 - 8. The accidental electrocution of one of my fine young petty officers during rough weather January 21, 1976 recorded the first fatality in my life; a very sad experience for me and my crew. Services were held at the channel at Base McMurdo, and the remains flown home.

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After another summer availability, 1 departed on October 17 for my twenty-fifth Deep Freeze via Honolulu, New Cale- donia Brisbane, Sydney, and Wellington. DF 82 brought the same jobs, only it seemed like they were taking longer to get done. Maybe 1 was just getting tired and bored with the Erne routine. Working with the CGC POLAR SEA this year (1 guess they are here to stay - they ' re not really all that bad I suppose 1 wonder what it would have been ike to have had a sister ship to alternate trips with. Speaking of - wonder what the Coast Guard did with my cousins that transferred over from the Navy with me - 1 havener, them around in years?) - Where was I? Oh - nght! Work- ing with the SFA We opened and cleared the channel into McMurdo for the annual migration of supply ships, then 1 proceeded on the scientific second half of my voyage. Sev- eral outstanding fossil finds were made by Dr. Bill Zmmies- ter ' s scientific group on Seymour Island, which included the first discovery of land mammals from the late eocene period- the first discovery of a land reptile (lizard) from the cenozoic of Antarctica, and a large number of fossil bones of the giant penguins (up to 6-feet in height! !) Return home was again take via Valparaiso, Callao, and Puerto Vallerta; pulling into Long Beach on April 21, 1982. The usual dock- side availability was followed by an attempt to go through Refresher Training in San Diego. Boy, did 1 bomb out there The Navy rejected nine out of my ten main engines as not operationally safe, and sent me home; this after almost $800 thousand had been sunk into my machinery rehabilitation during the availability! Another $640 thousand was used for further corrective maintenance during the five week availabil- ity added following my expulsion from San Diego; and before sailing November 17th on DEEP FREEZE 83. One officer and two CPO ' s from Fleet Training Group, San Diego, rode me to Apia, Western Samoa; holding drills and training, as had been done in 1980. After stops at Suva, Fiji; and Wellington, I worked with POLAR STAR breaking into McMurdo. POLAR STAR departed on a circum-navigation of the Antarctic continent, and 1 returned to Wellington for mid-patrol maintenance. While enroute and taking 55 degree rolls, several of my crew were seriously injured and trans- ferred off at Lyttelton. Toxic fumes from spilled chemicals in the machine shop forced the evacuation of all personnel aft of forward officer ' s berthing for a period of 36 hours. We stayed at Lyttelton until January 8; allowing an auxiliary ship ' s service generator to be installed on my starboard boat deck as hardly any of my own generators were run- ning reliably. Making it back to the Antarctic continent, I managed to complete the second half of my patrol dunng which 1 accomplished the farthest southward penetration of the Bay of Wales into the Ross Ice Shelf on February 6 by reaching 78 -29 ' S 164 -irw. Once again, while enroute to Wellington and taking 55 — 60 degree rolls on February 28, several more crew members were again severly injured, necessitating transfer off at Wellington. Stops enroute home included Papeete, Tahiti; and Puerto Vallerta, concluding a rather wretched DF 83 for me and my people on Apnl 10, 1983. , „ Immediately upon my return, they took oft my crew, except for a skeleton resident 40-man contract inspection detail: and I entered my first Major Maintenance Avail- ability since I was built! It was to be divided into two phases, which would last over-all for eighteen long months. I couldn ' t believe it!! Finally! I was getting the at- tention my weary aching body had been crying for for years! As I said goodbye to those that were leaving me, I thought back on all those wonderful people that had served with me; that had unselfishly given their all. That had sweated, toiled, worried, improvised, strained, pick- ed me up when I was faltering, threatened, cussed, ca- joled and sweet talked me into continuing; - to all of them - 1 give a silent - THANK YOU ; - for my accomplish- ments, - my awards, - my history : - is -THEIR legacy! The major engineering plant renovation and equip- ment replacement during phase one was financed with al- most $ 1 million, and another $ 1 + million was allocated for the six month period of phase two. (Toward the end of 1983, 1 received my first Coast Guard Unit Commen- dation award for my DF 83 operations). In April 1984 I was re-manned with an almost 90% new crew, which under-took completing the 7,000 man day worklist along with commercial contractors while dockside at South- west Marine Shipyard in San Pedro, California. On Sep- tember 30, 1984, I officially came out of Charlie sta- tus- received my first Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation award for Phase I of the MM A; and on October 7, with m major, minor, and cosmetic surgery being completely healed and found — Fit for Duty : proudly sailed for San Diego and Refresher Training. Officially passing RefTra for the first time in about 10 years, during which we earned coveted E ' s in deck seamanship, navigation and ship control; we loaded up scientific supplies at Broadway pier and departed San Diego October 31 for Deep Freeze 85 with a feeling of rejuvenation, optimism and excitement of again meeting the challenges of my 27th Deep Freeze. This was the first DF ever for which I failed to cross the Pacific, much to the disappointment of my new crew, and me too; as I had planned on showing them all my old friends in New Zealand and Australia This was also the first trip that I didn ' t have to break ice at McMurdo (Whooopeee!). Stopping at Callao and Valparaiso enroute south, we staged out of Puntas Arenas, Chile, foi the scientific parties and equipment. This trip I accomplished the deepest penetration of Pine Island Bay at 75 -l ' S 102 33AV. Upon out-chopping and dropping off the science par ties in Punta Arenas, we circum-navigated the South Ameri