‍USCGC Healy: “High North” is in play

‍“The Arctic is fast becoming a theater of global competition and militarization.”

‍Bjarni Benediktsson, former PM of Iceland

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‍USCGC Healy’s Maiden voyage

‍Her shakedown cruise

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‍The USCGC Healy was declared “In Commission Active” on August 21, 2000, and home-ported in Seattle. Healy’s maiden voyage occurred between January and August 2000. Capt. Jeffrey Garrett was the skipper. This was a shakedown cruise during which the Healy covered 26,000 miles in six and one-half months, including transiting the NWP.

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‍I’m an Air Force veteran, so I had a lot of fun walking through this shakedown cruise. Her Maiden Voyage Cruise Report is available if you care to read through it. I will draw from it.

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‍She sailed from her birthplace at the Litton-Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans on January 26, 2000. Healy had a tough start with a fire in the auxiliary transformer cabin on the second day. While in Pensacola, Healy experienced the first helicopter landing on the ship, by a HH-65A Dolphin. She had another fire in the cycloconverter drive on February 4. Healy took on 40,580 JP5 fuel at Naval Air Station (NASS) Pensacola on February 7 and 786,435 gallons of F-76 diesel the next day.

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‍After Pensacola, Healy went to San Juan, Puerto Rico. She conducted science equipment testing in the Puerto Rican Trench. The Milwaukee Deep is an area of the Puerto Rican Trench that exceeds five miles in depth, about 28,700 ft.

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‍She went to port Everglades, Florida and after departing, sent divers to photograph and videograph the ship’s hull. Healy then headed to the Cape Hatteras, North Carolina area and conducted eight days of helicopter dynamic interface testing with HH-60J Jayhawk and HH-65A Dolphin helicopters. This involved evaluating the interaction between the helicopter and a ship’s moving deck. I was interested to learn that a ship such as the Healy creates an “airwake,” which disturbs the airflow and creates instability and buffeting in a helicopter’s flight.

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‍After the flight testing was done, Healy took on Coast Guard Aviation Detachment (AVDET) 147 from Kodiak, Alaska and two HH-65 Dolphin helicopters. The AVDET consisted of four pilots and four mechanics with four more mechanics designated as backup.

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‍Healy went on to Norfolk, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, and to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This trip from Avondale to Nova Scotia took from February 2 through March 28, 2000, almost two months. 

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‍I had a bit of a chuckle with the crew being exposed to the great sun and beaches of Florida and Puerto Rico before heading up to the Arctic!

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‍During this part of the voyage, the crew had to wrestle with the two fires and repairs, conduct helicopter qualification training, science equipment testing, and underwater video and photographic testing. Healy evacuated one crewman with a foot infection, conducted more helicopter training with both the HH-60J and HH-65A, she took on the aviation detachment, and hosted a bunch of “high rollers.”

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‍The Healy made her way up to Nova Scotia, Canada, and moored in Halifax on March 28.  Healy had to have a harbor pilot aboard until secured at the pier. A commercial tug helped, partly due to a bow thruster failure.

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‍While in Halifax, representatives from the Coast Guard Engineering Logistics Center, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the Canadian National Research Council, the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab, the U.S. National Ice Center, Canadian Ice Service, Helsinki University, Hamburg Ship Test Facility, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution came aboard.

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‍On April 1, she sailed out of Halifax without assistance and moved through the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the west side of Newfoundland through the Strait of Belle Isle up to the Davis Strait on the west side of Greenland. Healy began her sea trials after departing Halifax.

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‍The crew came up against its first ice on April 4 to the northeast of the Strait of Belle Isle. It was a loose pack of six-inch ice, a piece of cake for this icebreaker. This was the first time the crew operated Healy in ice. 

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‍On April 6 the Healy conducted a dive to provide video of the position of both propellers for surface calculations. The divers experienced excessive current that forced them down current. The dive was aborted and the divers were recovered. They conducted another dive on April 11 without incident. Other dives were conducted later.

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‍High winds, snow, and whiteout conditions delayed the icebreaking tests. The Healy employed satellite imagery to guide a helicopter to locate suitable, level ice floes five feet thick, and began icebreaking tests on April 10. The crew conducted its first test on ice that was two feet thick. On April 14, they did a similar test on an ice floe four feet thick and a few days later on another a little of three feet thick.

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‍She cut through 2.5 to 3.0 feet of ice without problem. They found a floe 26 miles in diameter, which provided a good test, and a stretch of ice 5.5 ft. thick with four inches of snow cover. Healy’s specs were 4.5 ft. tops, but she cut through this ice at 2.57 knots.

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‍Garrett said “backing and ramming (is) a key icebreaker maneuver in heavy ice conditions. They tested this with “rock-hard ice ranging in thickness from eight to 18 ft.” The crew conducted 17 back-and-ram cycles and was able to penetrate about 200 ft. Garrett said, “In a later test, it took only three rams to break through a first-year ridge with a maximum thickness of 49 feet.”

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‍They conducted icebreaking tests for three weeks. The Healy then went to Nuuk, Greenland, and moored there. They had to board a pilot as well, and fortunately, he spoke English. The pilot was a God-send because they entered the fjord in a heavy snow squall. 

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‍Overall, the crew reported that the ship demonstrated excellent icebreaking capabilities surpassing expectations. Healy backed up very well. It was interesting to learn that the ship could attain seven knots speed in one ship’s length.

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‍Healy did not have any electronic charts, so the crew used its chart digitizer for its Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). The crew moored to two large dolphins attached to a 100-plus-foot steep rock face. Dolphins are wood pilings grouped together. There was some tension during this maneuver, and the crew ran lines in every feasible direction to secure the ship. 

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‍When leaving Nuuk, the crew used its Dynamic Positioning (DP) system that automatically maintained their position and heading using the ship’s thrusters and propellers, counteracting forces from wind, waves, and currents. The crew noted that the DP became the method of choice to moor and unmoor the ship.

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‍The Healy departed Nuuk on April 26 on its way to the Davis Strait to continue ice trials. On April 27, Healy crossed the Arctic Circle. She experienced heavy ice and pressure and had to abort getting near the fast ice. Fast ice is sea ice that remains stationary because it's anchored to the coast, icebergs, or the shallow ocean floor.

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‍At one point, Healy was “nipped between two rapidly moving floes” and “was held fast for eight hours until the ice relaxed from tidal action,” which is movement caused by the forces of the tide. Had I been on the crew, this would have drawn my attention! That said, the cruise report said the ship does not appear to get stuck easily.

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‍This is a historic problem for ships operating in the ice. Massive ice floes, often driven by wind and currents, can surround a ship and exert massive pressure on the hull. While “held fast,” the crew deployed two International Ice Patrol (IIP) drift buoys. These track, plot, and predict the iceberg position.

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‍Healy’s crew searched for large floes to continue testing. Areas of level ice were not as large as desired, but they found useful first-year floes to continue testing. A first-year ice flow is a piece of sea ice that has grown for less than one winter season, typically 0.3 to 2 meters (6 ft.) thick, and hasn't survived a summer melt cycle.

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‍She completed sea trials on May 17 and went to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Healy again had to bring a harbor pilot aboard. She experienced a very strong on-the-dock wind, but with the pilot and a small tug, Healy was successfully moored. Several times while in port, the crew bought S-57 charts, which are the current data format for the exchange of digital hydrographic data. In St. John’s, the crew received updates from the Nautical Data International (NDI) for charts they had bought earlier, and updated their NDI raster charts for the year 2000.

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‍While in St. John’s, Healy refueled, taking 603,603 gallons of Marine Gasoil (MGO).

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‍Some scientists came aboard, and Healy left St. John’s on June 3.  The crew had some difficulty leaving St. John’s because of a strong bow wind, making it hard to get the stern off the pier.

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‍Once out of port, Healy headed for the Labrador Sea, at which time she began transits between Nuuk and the Davis Strait, conducting science trials. On June 19, Healy “entered the ice field of rotten medium floes.” I had to look that up. The interpretation I got was that they were medium ice floes that were heavily melted, diminishing their structural integrity. They range in size from 300 to 1,600 ft. across.

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‍She completed these science trials on June 24 and headed to Prins Christian Sound at the southern tip of Greenland, where there is a “fjord system.” When they approached Prins Christian Sund, they ran across “brash and cake ice” 10 nm from the entrance. I had to look this up, too. 

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‍Brash and cake ice describes a chaotic accumulation of small, floating ice fragments that often fill bays and channels. On the way to Iceland, the crew had to beware of icebergs, so she carefully maneuvered to avoid shoal areas. She experienced winds that gusted up to 40 knots.

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‍The Healy sailed across the Denmark Strait to Helguvik in southwestern Iceland, where she moored. At Helguvik, Iceland, Healy took a pilot aboard who had up-to-date charts of the harbor that showed a pier the crew’s maps did not. 

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‍Healy then went to Dublin on July 2, 2002, and arrived on the 5th. She took 353,404 gallons of NATO F-76 fuel. The fuel was brought to Healy by a barge from England. Interestingly, the dollar amount for the fuel exceeded what had been authorized, so Healy had to get headquarters’ authorization to use a Navy fueling contract.

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‍Healy left Dublin on July 11 and went to Groennedal (Kangilinnguit), Greenland, arriving there on July 16. The approach to the Arsuk Fjord and Groennedal was spicy as Healy encountered high winds and thick coastal fog. It’s interesting to read how the navigation was done. 

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‍The crew used a Danish chart, paper, and digitized it, using a datum offset to comply with WSG84, which is the World Geodetic System 1984. This is an Earth-centered, three-dimensional coordinate system and geodetic datum used globally for positioning, mapping, and navigation, as the reference for GPS. The crew used radar overlays to verify their position, along with radar ranges plotted on the paper chart. They checked the Aid To Navigation (ATON) on the chart and the List of Lights. During the transit, the crew used visual fixes with radar ranges to verify that the ship’s position agreed with their Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS).

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‍The way I read this is that the crew checked and double-checked to make sure their navigation was good. This rings a bell with me. I once had a 27 ft. cruiser on Chesapeake Bay and used a paper chart. I recall double-checking my entry into a small bay, and I still ran aground!

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‍On July 17, the USCGC Healy began her voyage through the NWP to Seattle. She went north through the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay to Lancaster Sound. The Maiden Voyage 2000 Cruise Book provided a list of points through which the Healy traveled in the NWP. I had fun finding these on Google Earth, so pardon me as I give you the tour.

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‍Healy entered the NWP on July 18 and transited through Barrow Strait, Peel Sound, Franklin Strait, Larsen Sound, Victoria Strait, Icebreaker Channel, Queen Maud Gulf, to Cambridge Bay. She arrived there on July 23 to await the Commandant of the Coast Guard, who came aboard on July 25. The Healy then sailed through the Dease Strait to the west and returned to Cambridge Bay.

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‍Healy then transited through the Dease Strait, Edinburgh Channel, Coronation Gulf, Cache Point Channel, Dolphin and Union Strait, Amundson Gulf, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Bering Strait.

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‍The Healy covered 26,000 miles in six and one-half months on this maiden shakedown voyage.

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‍Healy’s deck force consisted of 13 crewmembers, of which one was a lieutenant, a Chief Boatswain’s Mate, four other Boatswain’s Mates, and seven called “Non-Rates.” These seven came to Healy directly from Boot Camp and five of them were sent on temporary duty to two coast guard cutters to qualify for lookout, watch-standing on the bridge, and tie-downs for helicopter operations.  

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‍A Boatswain’s Mate is a well trained member of the team capable of performing a wide variety of shipborne tasks. Two of the Non-Rates were sent to mess cooking.

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‍The AVDET flew 42 sorties during the ice trials phase, thirteen sorties during the science trials phase and 17 sorties during the NWP passage for a total of 87 hours flight time. The usual profile for the majority of science flights was two pilots, one flight mechanic, two passengers and fifty pounds of gear.

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‍As could be expected, the crew encountered many problems with the ship’s systems. It made 1,300 warranty claims. Recovery from the transformer fire took four hours. The cycloconverter fire was described as a “violent, catastrophic failure” that caused Healy to “limp back to 

‍Pensacola on one shaft at half power. The cruise book highlights many of the more vexing problems.

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‍The ship’s commissary spent $295,342 on meats, dry stores, dairy, produce, and bread during the voyage. Before deployment, Healy bought $16,000 of inventory. She re-ordered supplies to replace depleted stocks before arrival in Baltimore, but the supplies were not received until she got to Iceland because of poor mail service. When in Iceland, Healy replenished about $11,000 of inventory. Good deal. The potato chips are back!

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‍USCGC Healy Operational Missions: 2001-2025

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