CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

Last updated
LSL HalifaxHarbour.jpg
The icebreaker and flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent under way in Halifax Harbour, escorted by CFAV Glenside in the foreground.
History
Coastguard Flag of Canada.svgCanada
NameLouis S. St-Laurent
Namesake Louis St. Laurent
Owner Government of Canada
Operator Canadian Coast Guard
Port of registry Ottawa, Ontario
RouteAtlantic coastline and eastern Arctic
Builder Canadian Vickers, Montreal
Launched3 June 1966
Commissioned1969
In service1969–present
Refit
HomeportCCG Base St. John's, NL (Newfoundland and Labrador Region)
Identification
Statusin active service
General characteristics (after refit) [2]
TypeHeavy Icebreaker
Tonnage
Displacement15,324 tons (full) [4]
Length119.8 m (393.04 ft)
Beam24.38 m (79.99 ft)
Draught9.91 m (32.51 ft)
Depth16.3 m (53.48 ft)
Ice class Polar Class 4
Installed power5 × Krupp MaK 16M453C (5 × 5,880 kW) [5]
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric (AC/DC)
  • Three shafts (3 × 6,714 kW)
  • Three fixed-pitch propellers
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range23,000 nautical miles (43,000 km)
Endurance205 days
Boats & landing
craft carried
  • 1 × Zodiac Hurricane RHIB
  • 2 × workboat/lifeboat
  • 1 × LCM barge
Complement46
Aircraft carried2 × Bell 429

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent (French : NGCC Louis S. St-Laurent) is a Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) heavy icebreaker. Louis S. St-Laurent's home port is St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. [6] She is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. [7]

Contents

The ship is named after Louis St. Laurent, who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957.

Operations

Louis S. St-Laurent is based at CCG Base St. John's in St. John's, Newfoundland. The vessel's current operation tempo consists of summer voyages to Canada's Arctic where she supports the annual Arctic sealift to various coastal communities and carries out multi-disciplinary scientific expeditions. During the winter months, Louis S. St-Laurent sometimes operates in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to aid ships in transiting to Montreal, Quebec, although she usually only serves this assignment during particularly heavy ice years.

Since entering service in 1969, the icebreaker has been compelled to go through several refits in order to keep her in service. In November 2020 the federal government announced that it would endeavour to keep the vessel in service through the 2020s. Refits were planned to take place at the Davie Shipyard over three 5-month dry-docking periods in 2022, 2024 and 2027 respectively, with an alongside work period in 2023. [8]

History

Louis S. St-Laurent alongside the pier at her (then) homeport, CCG Base Dartmouth, in June 2007. CCGS Louis S St Laurent.jpg
Louis S. St-Laurent alongside the pier at her (then) homeport, CCG Base Dartmouth, in June 2007.
MV Fundy Paradise, Louis S. St-Laurent, and RV Farley Mowat at Sydport in Point Edward, Nova Scotia, March 2009. 3 boats.jpg
MV Fundy Paradise, Louis S. St-Laurent, and RV Farley Mowat at Sydport in Point Edward, Nova Scotia, March 2009.

Louis S. St. Laurent was launched 3 December 1966 by Canadian Vickers Limited at Montreal, Quebec, and commissioned in October 1969. [9]

From 8–22 September 1969 Louis S. St-Laurent sailed on the SS Manhattan expedition in the Northwest Passage. She was assisted by CCGS John A. Macdonald and the United States Coast Guard vessels USCGC Northwind and USCGC Staten Island. [10]

During 1976 Louis S. St-Laurent, Captain Paul M. Fournier in command, made a partial transit of the Northwest Passage travelling from east to west, through Lancaster Sound, Peel Sound, and Victoria Strait. [11]

In 1979 Louis S. St-Laurent, Captain George Burdock in command, made a full east to west transit of the Northwest Passage. She assisted CCGS Franklin, and circumnavigated North America. [12]

Louis S. St-Laurent underwent an extensive and costly modernization at Halifax Shipyard Ltd. in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between 1988 and 1993 which saw her hull lengthened as well as new propulsion and navigation equipment installed.

The modernization program was controversial as the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had initially proposed building a class of mega icebreakers (the Polar 8 Project) for promoting Canadian sovereignty in territorial waters claimed by Canada; USCGC Polar Sea had made an unauthorized transit of Canada's Northwest Passage in 1985 early in Mulroney's administration, provoking a strong nationalist out-cry across the country. However, budget cuts in the late 1980s saw proposed expansions of the coast guard and armed forces scrapped. In compensation to the coast guard, the government opted to modernize the largest icebreaker in its fleet, Louis S. St-Laurent.

On 22 August 1994 Louis S. St-Laurent and USCGC Polar Sea became the first North American surface vessels to reach the North Pole.

In the summer of 2006, CBC TV's The National broadcast from Louis S. St-Laurent in a special series focused on climate change. [13]

The vessel was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2000 however a refit extended the decommissioning date to 2017. In the 26 February 2008 federal budget, the Government of Canada announced it was funding a $721 million "Polar Class Icebreaker" (named John G. Diefenbaker) as a replacement vessel for Louis S. St-Laurent. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] However, this mooted replacement vessel has been continually delayed compelling the life of Louis St. Laurent to be significantly extended.

In 2014, with CCGS Terry Fox, Louis S. St-Laurent performed a cruise to the Arctic to map the undersea continental shelf. The two vessels were slowed by thick ice conditions. [19]

At 1:30 a.m. on 2 April 2015, Louis S. St-Laurent, arrived near Burgeo, Newfoundland and Labrador, to take the damaged Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Ann Harvey under tow. Ann Harvey, which had run aground near Burgeo, was already being towed by the lifeboat CCGS W.G. George when the icebreaker arrived. Louis S. St-Laurent took over the tow and brought Ann Harvey into Connoire Bay where Royal Canadian Navy divers could inspect the ship. [20]

In 2016 Louis S. St-Laurent was deployed to the Arctic carrying an international team of scientists mapping the sea floor. The first leg of the mission was a voyage to Norway mapping the Atlantic. This was to be followed by a 47-day leg to the North Pole. [21] Travelling with the Swedish icebreaker Oden, Louis S. St-Laurent's mission to the Arctic was the last of three performed in order to define Canada's claim to the Arctic continental shelf. While mapping during transit to the north, the scientists aboard the ship discovered a chain of 25–30 undersea volcanoes off the coast of Greenland. [19]

On 22 March 2019, CCGS Captain Molly Kool and Louis S. St-Laurent were dispatched to aid the tanker Jana Desgagnes which had damaged a rudder in heavy ice and lost steering 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) southwest of Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland. Captain Molly Kool towed the vessel further out to sea to await the arrival of a tugboat, which would take the tanker to Sydney, Nova Scotia, for repairs. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Coast Guard</span> Canadian government agency

The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and icebreaking, marine pollution response, and support for other Canadian government initiatives. The Coast Guard operates 119 vessels of varying sizes and 23 helicopters, along with a variety of smaller craft. The CCG is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a special operating agency within Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

CCGS <i>Henry Larsen</i>

CCGS Henry Larsen is a Canadian Coast Guard Improved Pierre Radisson-class icebreaker serving in the Newfoundland and Labrador region and based in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Entering service in 1988, Henry Larsen is the fourth ship and of an improved design over the rest of the ships in her class. The ship operates in the Arctic Ocean during summer months.

CCGS <i>Terry Fox</i> Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreaker

CCGS Terry Fox is a Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreaker. She was originally built by Burrard-Yarrows Corporation in Canada in 1983 as part of an Arctic drilling system developed by BeauDril, the drilling subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources. After the offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea ended in the early 1990s, she was first leased and then sold to the Canadian Coast Guard.

CCGS <i>Amundsen</i> Icebreaker of the Canadian Coast Guard

CCGS Amundsen is a Pierre Radisson-class icebreaker and Arctic research vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The vessel entered service in 1979 as Franklin and was renamed Sir John Franklin in 1980 and served as such until 1996. Declared surplus, the vessel was used as an accommodation ship in Labrador in 1996 and placed in reserve in 2000. In 2003, the ship was reactivated and underwent conversion to an Arctic research vessel. The ship recommissioned as Amundsen.

USCGC <i>Polar Sea</i> United States Coast Guard heavy icebreaker ship

USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) is a United States Coast Guard heavy icebreaker. Commissioned on 23 February 1977, the ship was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle along with her sister ship, Polar Star (WAGB-10). Her home port is Seattle, Washington.

CCGS <i>Labrador</i>

CCGS Labrador was a Wind-class icebreaker. First commissioned on 8 July 1954 as Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Labrador in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), Captain O.C.S. "Long Robbie" Robertson, GM, RCN, in command. She was transferred to the Department of Transport (DOT) on 22 November 1957, and re-designated Canadian Government Ship (CGS) Labrador. She was among the DOT fleet assigned to the nascent Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) when that organization was formed in 1962, and further re-designated Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Labrador. Her career marked the beginning of the CCG's icebreaker operations which continue to this day. She extensively charted and documented the then-poorly-known Canadian Arctic, and as HMCS Labrador was the first ship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage. The ship was taken out of service in 1987 and broken up for scrap in 1989.

USCGC <i>Northwind</i> (WAGB-282)

USCGC Northwind (WAG/WAGB-282) was a Wind-class icebreaker, the second United States Coast Guard Cutter of her class to bear the name. She was built to replace USCGC Staten Island which was in Soviet lend-lease service.

CCGS <i>Des Groseilliers</i>

CCGS Des Groseilliers is a Pierre Radisson-class icebreaker in the Canadian Coast Guard. The vessel is named after Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (1618–1669) a close associate of Pierre-Esprit Radisson in explorations west of the Great Lakes and the founding of the British Hudson's Bay Company. The ship entered service in 1982. The vessel has participated in a number of research voyages, including Ice Station SHEBA. As part of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean experiment conducted in the Arctic Ocean from October 1997 to October 1998 to provide polar input to global climate models, Des Groseilliers was allowed to be frozen into the ice for the Arctic winter, to serve as a base for scientific researchers.

SS <i>Manhattan</i> (1961)

SS Manhattan was an oil tanker constructed at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, that became the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest Passage in 1969. Having been built as an ordinary tanker in 1962, she was refitted for ice navigation during this voyage with an icebreaker bow in 1968–69. Registered in the United States at the time, she was the largest US merchant vessel. If we consider ice navigation vessels as icebreakers, then Manhattan was the biggest icebreaker in history before the construction of the Yamalmax class ships.

CCGS <i>John A. Macdonald</i>

CCGS John A. Macdonald was a Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreaker. She was named after The Right Honourable, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. The ship was commissioned into the Canadian Department of Transport's Marine Service in 1960 using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship" (CGS). The vessel was transferred in 1962 into the newly created Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and served with distinction until being decommissioned in 1991, and replaced by the then-chartered CCGS Terry Fox.

Polar 8 Project Cancelled icebreaker design

The Polar 8 Project was a Canadian shipbuilding project intended to provide the Canadian Coast Guard with a large and heavy class icebreaker capable of operating year-round in the Northwest Passage. The project was developed as a means to assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic Ocean. It commenced in 1985 but was cancelled in 1990 while still in the final design stage. It was Canada's direct response to the unauthorized transit through the Northwest Passage in summer 1985 by USCGC Polar Sea, a United States Coast Guard icebreaker. Polar 8 refers the capability of the ship in ice of that thickness in feet, in this case 8 feet (2.4 m). Initiated in 1985, the vessel was never constructed and the project was cancelled in 1988.

CCGS <i>DIberville</i>

CCGS D'Iberville was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that was in service from 1952 to 1983 and was Canada's first modern icebreaker. The ship commissioned as CGS D'Iberville for the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship", D'Iberville was transferred into the newly-created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962. When launched, she was the largest icebreaker in use by Canada post-World War II until CCGS John A. Macdonald was put in service. In 1984, the icebreaker was renamed Phillip O'Hara before returning to her old name in 1988. In 1989 the vessel was sold for scrap and broken up at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

CCGS <i>John G. Diefenbaker</i> Canadian Heavy Polar Icebreaker

CCGS John G. Diefenbaker is the name for a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that had been expected to join the fleet by 2017 but has been significantly delayed. Her namesake, John G. Diefenbaker, was Canada's 13th prime minister. It was Diefenbaker's government that founded the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962.

CCGS <i>Ann Harvey</i> Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender and SAR ship

CCGS Ann Harvey is a Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender and SAR vessel with light icebreaker duties. She was constructed in 1987 by Halifax Dartmouth Industries, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vessel was named after Ann Harvey, the daughter of a local Newfoundland fisherman who helped rescue 185 people during her lifetime. Ann Harvey's home port is St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and is stationed there with other Coast Guard ships.

CCGS <i>Captain Molly Kool</i> Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker

CCGS Captain Molly Kool is a Canadian Coast Guard converted medium class icebreaker. She was originally built as an icebreaking anchor handling tug Vidar Viking for Trans Viking Icebreaking & Offshore in 2001. The vessel was acquired by the Canadian Coast Guard in August 2018 and was commissioned in May of the next year after refit.

CCGS <i>Pierre Radisson</i>

CCGS Pierre Radisson is the lead ship of her class of icebreakers. Constructed and operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, the vessel is based at Quebec City on the Saint Lawrence River. The ship was constructed in British Columbia in the 1970s and has been in service ever since. The vessel is named for Pierre-Esprit Radisson, a 17th-century French fur trader and explorer.

CCGS <i>Sir Humphrey Gilbert</i> Icebreaker launched in 1959

CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert is a former Canadian Coast Guard light icebreaker and buoy tender that was later sold to a private owner and renamed Polar Prince. The ship entered service with the Department of Transport Marine Service in 1959 and transferred to the newly created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962, active until 2001. The icebreaker was sold to private interests in Newfoundland and renamed Polar Prince, sitting mostly idle until resold in 2009 to GTX Technology Canada Limited for service in the Arctic Ocean as a commercial icebreaker. In 2017, the vessel was temporarily rechristened Canada C3 and used for a high-profile voyage around Canada's three maritime coasts as part of the nation's 150th anniversary. In November 2021, the ship was purchased by Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Service Ltd, a joint venture between Horizon Maritime and the Miawpukek First Nation and chartered for educational and research expedition use.

<i>Martha L. Black</i>-class icebreaker

The Martha L. Black-class icebreakers are a class of six light icebreaker and buoy tenders constructed for and operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. Built in the 1980s, the class operates on both coasts of Canada and have been used for operations in the Arctic region, including the search for the ships of Franklin's lost expedition. They are rated as "high endurance multi-tasked vessels" under Canadian Coast Guard naming rules.

<i>Pierre Radisson</i>-class icebreaker Arctic Ocean Icebreakers (Summer)

The Pierre Radisson-class icebreakers, also known as R-class icebreakers, are a class of four icebreakers constructed for and operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The Canadian Coast Guard designates the four ships in the class as medium icebreakers. Built in two phases, the first three ships, Pierre Radisson, Franklin and Des Groseilliers, were built to a common design. The fourth, Henry Larsen was built to a modified design and is considered a subclass, the Improved R-class icebreaker. Franklin was later renamed Sir John Franklin before undergoing a re-design for use primarily as an Arctic research vessel. Upon the vessel's return to service, the ship was once again renamed Amundsen. All the vessels are named for people who sailed through Canada's northern waters. The class operates in the Arctic Ocean in the summer, patrolling, icebreaking and research missions.

References

  1. 1 2 "Louis S. St-Laurent (6705937)" . Equasis. French Ministry for Transport . Retrieved 2012-04-08.
  2. ↑ "CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent". Canadian Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Vessel - CCG Fleet". Inter-j01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  4. ↑ "CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, 1994 Arctic Ocean Section". Cold Research and Engineering Laboratory Reports. p. 10. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Krupp MaK Wins $21.6-Million Retrofit Contract For Canadian Icebreaker". American Shipbuilders. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Vessel - CCG Fleet". inter-j01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  7. ↑ Government of Canada, Canadian Coast Guard (2022-03-08). "Maintaining the Canadian Coast Guard fleet". www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  8. ↑ "Canada's largest icebreaker to undergo life extension upgrade". 4 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Stephen Saunders, ed. (2004). Jane's Fighting Ships 2004–2005. Jane's Information Group. p. 95. ISBN   0710626231.
  10. ↑ Smith, William D. (1970). Northwest Passage, The Historic Voyage of the SS Manhattan. Markham, ON.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd, Publishers. ISBN   0-07-058460-5.
  11. ↑ MacFarlane, John M. (2012). "A List of the Early Partial Transits of the Canadian Northwest Passage 1921 to 2004". nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  12. ↑ MacFarlane, John M. (2012). "Full Transits of the Canadian Northwest Passage". nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "The National visits Canada's North". CBC News. 27 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 November 2006.
  14. ↑ "Budget 2008: Chapter 4 – Leadership at Home and Abroad". Government of Canada. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Arctic icebreaker, fishing port, tax break a start: northerners". CBC News . 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on March 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  16. ↑ Windeyer, Chris (29 February 2008). "Feds to replace old icebreaker". Nunatsiaq News . Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2015. Ottawa will put aside $720 million this year to commission the icebreaker, which the government says will have better ice breaking capability than the Louis St. Laurent, considered the workhorse of the Coast Guard.
  17. ↑ Mullowney, Tara (4 March 2008). "Feds fall short: Ottawa must do more, politicians say". Southern Gazette. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2015. ... and $720 million in funding for the Coast Guard will translate into a polar class ice-breaker that will be based in Newfoundland......"This is a bigger boat, so you can add to that."
  18. ↑ Kives, Bartley (28 February 2008). "Red Amundsen our flag in white Arctic". Winnipeg Free Press . Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Research ship mapping Arctic Ocean near North Pole". CBC News. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Coast guard ship Ann Harvey anchored near Burgeo after striking bottom". CBC News. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  21. ↑ MacDonald, Michael (21 July 2016). "Canada sending largest icebreaker to North Pole to bolster Arctic claim". CTV News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  22. ↑ "Coast guard helping adrift tanker carrying 8M litres of fuel near southwest Newfoundland". CBC News. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.