Scene on the Sound: USCGC Polar Star returns to Seattle

USCG Polar Star
Photo by Jan Hansen

This week the Polar Star returned to its homeport in Seattle. 

Three icebreakers are homeported in Puget Sound, but only one is operational at this time.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star returned to its home port of Seattle, Washington, on August 25, 2024 after a major service life-extending overhaul – and not a moment too soon.

The medium icebreaker USCGC Healy, the service’s only other icebreaker available for operations in the Arctic and Antarctica, also sailed back into Seattle earlier this month after suffering a fire that forced its crew to abandon a planned deployment to the High North.

Polar Sea history. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Briana Carter

The Polar Sea is being taken out of service

From Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS):

A document detailing the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea (WAGB 11) conducting the first solo circumnavigation of the North American continent by a U.S. vessel sits on display during a farewell gathering to the Polar Sea at Coast Guard Base Seattle, Washington, August 27, 2024. 

The Polar Sea will be moved to Mare Island Drydock in Vallejo, California, in preparation for storage in the Suisun Naval Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay, California.

--Jan Hansen