New Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw Launched at Marinette

Will Soon Replace The Old ‘Big Mac’

By Karen Gould

The new Mackinaw slams into the icy waters of the Menominee River during its launch Saturday, April 2. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Dubbed by the Coast Guard an inefficient and expensive resource to operate because of her World War II era systems and single mission capability, the Cutter Mackinaw will soon be replaced with a new ship that will sail the Great Lakes under the same proud name, but with added capabilities and a sleeker design.

The new Mackinaw was released from her construction berth at the Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wisconsin, Saturday, April 2, hitting the icy Menominee River waters and creating a wave that traveled to the opposite bank, crashed onto the shore, and rolled back, flooding the area where the ship had just been.

The estimated crowd of 4,000 people gasped during her steep angled decent into the river as she appeared to almost lay on her side. In grand Mackinaw tradition, she quickly rolled back and forth, taking command of the river as brown water flowed off her deck and she righted herself.

The launch was a dramatic climax to a morning of ceremonies and speeches, comparing old to new, and recognizing the warm relationship "Big Mac" has with the people of the Great Lakes.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw clears a shipping track through the ice of the St. Marys River Jan. 23, 2004. (USCG photo by PAC Jeff Hall)

"With the new Mackinaw, it didn’t take long to decide on a name for this ship," said Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, "since the Mackinaw is an incredible institution on a 60-plus-year roll. We wanted to keep that going, so we have the new Mackinaw. It will help us continue our long and very proud history of sailing a major ice breaker on the Great Lakes."

Keynote speaker, the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives and third in line for the presidency said, "Though we are here today to celebrate the new Mackinaw, we must pay tribute to the past."

His wife, Jean, christened the ship.

The original Mackinaw was contracted to be built by the Toledo Ship Building Company in 1942, 15 years before the Mackinac Bridge was opened to traffic.

When the Mackinaw was officially commissioned on December 20, 1944, it was the most powerful and capable ice-breaker in the world, according to the Coast Guard. It was built to help maintain shipping channels on the Great Lakes during the winter months to aid in the production of steel, which was needed during World War II.

In more than 60 years of service, she has freed ships from ice, assisted in maritime collisions, helped free grounded ships, and broken up ice jams that have caused flooding in coastal cities. She also has conducted search and rescue operations, hosted training cruises, and participated in public affairs events, including escorting the sailing fleets in the Port Huron and Chicago races to Mackinac Island. Cheboygan has been her home port.

The design of the old ship incorporated innovative features to improve ice-breaking capabilities. For example, a 12-foot diameter bow propeller, weighing 7.2 tons, served a dual purpose. It drew water from beneath the ice ahead, weakening it, and causing it to sag, and therefore, making it easier to break. Then the propeller sent that water streaming along both sides of the ship’s hull to help reduce friction with the ice.

The Mackinaw also has a heeling system, which in 90 seconds can shift nearly 112,000 gallons of ballast water from side-to-side, creating a rocking motion that allows her to free herself if she becomes stuck in the ice.

Her long design and wide girth were enhanced with what was considered, at the time, a shallow draft, to allow her to better handle ice on the Great Lakes. She sails with a crew of 10 officers and 65 enlisted personnel under the command of Commander Joseph McGuiness. The Mackinaw can cut through 12-feet to 15-feet of solid ice, and over five-feet of brash ice.

The new Mackinaw is sleeker in design and officially will be delivered to the Coast Guard on October 15, 2005. The official commissioning date has not been set. She will have a crew of eight officers and 38 enlisted personnel under the command of Commander Donald Triner. The new Mackinaw can cut through 10-feet of solid ice, and up to 10-feet of brash ice.

According to Coast Guard headquarters, she is built with
6.3 million pounds of steel, and her construction also includes 45 miles of wire, and 2.3 miles of fiber optic cables. She is powered by three Caterpillar diesel engines, has a 20-ton Appleton Crane for lifting and servicing aids to navigation, is equipped with an oil spill recovery system, has state of the art navigation, and communication and security systems.

In addition, she has been built to handle search and rescue operations, provide maritime law enforcement, and will be capable of responding to national security and defense needs.

To physically compare the two ships, the Mackinaw is 290 feet long, has a 75-foot beam, and a draft of 19 feet. The new Mackinaw is 240 feet long, has a 58-foot beam, and a draft of 16 feet.

The original Mackinaw initially had a white hull, but now it is painted red, as is the hull of the new Mackinaw. Coast Guard Lieutenant Erik Skow of Marinette, Wisconsin, said, "All Coast Guard cutters are responsible to perform all the Coast Guard missions to the best of their abilities, however, the white hull cutters are law enforcement ships, the black hull cutters are buoy tenders, and the red hull cutters are ice-breakers."

An icon representing Coast Guard service on the Great Lakes, the Mackinaw was first named Manitowoc, but it was discovered that name already was in use by the Navy.

Coast Guard Commandant and historian Chris Havern said that while he cannot verify the history behind the naming of the Mackinaw, "…it would appear that she was named for Mackinaw City in Cheboygan County."

The new Mackinaw also will find her home in Cheboygan and is expected to arrive later this year, but no specific date has been set yet. No specific date also has been set for the decommissioning of the original Mackinaw either, nor has her fate been determined, according to Lieutenant Skow.

Last month, U.S. Representative Bart Stupak, (D-Menominee) introduced legislation allowing the Coast Guard to give the Mackinaw to the City of Cheboygan, where it would become a museum.

"The conveyance of the Cutter Mackinaw to Cheboygan is both a tribute to the ship that protected Michigan’s waters and shores and cleared the ice paths for the nations’ mariners as well as the Cheboygan area, which harbors the namesake of the cutter," said Congressman Stupak. "I see no better way to honor the life and name of the cutter more than to retire it as a museum to the Mackinac Straits area."

The legislation has been referred to committee with no vote date set, said Adrianne Marsh, a spokesperson for Congressman Stupak.

As much as the launch day for the new Mackinaw was about both the old and new ship, it also was about the Coast Guard. The United States Coast Guard has the third oldest fleet of all the navies and coast guards in the world, said Admiral Collins. "The new Mackinaw is an excellent example of building a more ready and more capable 21st century Coast Guard," he said. "The new Mackinaw will be the envy of the fleet for years to come."

Ice breaking on the Great Lakes is critical to the regional and national economy, he said. On average, $1 billion worth of cargo is transported on the Great Lakes during the ice season. Open water helps to employ 100,000 steel workers, 8,600 iron ore miners, more than 2,000 great lakes sailors, and thousands of support jobs, said Admiral Collins.

Speaker Hastert lauded the men and women of the Coast Guard for their efforts to stop drug trafficking, their success with saving lives, and their maintenance of 50,000 aids to navigation. The Coast Guard responds to reports of water pollution, provides humanitarian aid, and offers safety to ports and waterways, he said.

"Remember the great work the Coast Guard has accomplished throughout the world. Remember the legacy of service to the lakes set by Big Mac," said Speaker Hastert.