Bay-class tugboat

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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Thunder Bay clears a channel for vessels to navigate the frozen Hudson River
Class overview
NameBay class
BuildersTacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington and Bay City Marine Incorporated, National City, California
OperatorsUnited States Coast Guard
Preceded byWYTM-110
Built1977-1987
In commission1979-present
Planned10
Completed9
Active9
Retired0
General characteristics
TypeIcebreaking tugboat
Displacement662 tons
Length42.7 m (140 ft)
Beam11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsiondiesel electric: 2 Fairbanks Morse diesel engines with Westinghouse DC generators, 1 Westinghouse DC motor
Speed14.7 knots (27.2 km/h)
Range
  • 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) at 14.7 knots (27.2 km/h)
  • 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
  • 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement17 (3 officers)
Armament2 × M240 machine guns

The Bay-class tugboat is a class of 140-foot (43 m) icebreaking tugboats of the United States Coast Guard, with hull numbers WTGB-101 through to WTGB-109.

They can proceed through fresh water ice up to 20 inches (51 cm) thick, and break ice up to 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, through ramming. They can also ram pressure ridges of up to eight feet in thickness. These vessels are equipped with a system to lubricate their progress through the ice, by bubbling air through the hull.

Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)[edit]

A SLEP is a major overhaul intended to extend a vessel's service life; it is typically scheduled as the vessel approaches the end of its originally planned service life. The Bay-class tugboat SLEP project includes significant system upgrades and improvements to the propulsion plant; to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; installation of an engine-room fire-suppression system; boat launching davit replacement; Oily Water Separator replacement; stack exhaust configuration modifications; hull air-ice lubrication system; and crew habitability improvements to meet current standards (including removal of lead paint). When the Coast Guard described the Bay-class tugboat SLEP to the U.S. Congress in 2015, the first SLEP was scheduled to take 12 months; however, the Coast Guard anticipated that after the third SLEP the Coast Guard Yard would have enough familiarity with the process to complete two SLEPs per year, with an anticipated duration of 9 months each. The first of nine cutters (Morro Bay) entered SLEP at the Coast Guard Yard on July 1, 2014.[1] Morro Bay returned to her homeport of Cleveland in September 2015 [2]

President George Herbert Walker Bush tours USCGC Katmai Bay with the commanding officer, Coast Guard Lieutenant (now Vice Admiral) Sandra L. Stosz in 1990

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