Name USCGC Mackinaw Commissioned 20 December 1944 Fate Museum ship Launched 4 March 1944 Beam 23 m | Laid down 20 March 1943 Decommissioned 10 June 2006 Construction started 20 March 1943 Length 88 m | |
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Namesake Mackinaw City, Michigan Builder American Ship Building Company Similar Historic Mill Creek Discovery, McGulpin Point Light, Colonial Michilimackinac Park, Old Mackinac Point Light, USCGC Bramble (WLB‑392) | ||
USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) is a 290-foot (88 m) vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes. LR number: 6119534
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Mackinaw was homeported in Cheboygan, Michigan during active service. Due to Mackinaw's age and expensive upkeep, the cutter was decommissioned and replaced with a smaller multipurpose cutter USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), which was commissioned in Cheboygan the same day.
In 2002 the crew of this cutter painted and refurbished the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.
The old Mackinaw moved under its own power on 21 June 2006 from the port of its decommissioning to a permanent berth at the SS Chief Wawatam dock at the ship's namesake port, Mackinaw City, Michigan where she now serves as a museum ship known as Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum.
Construction
Mackinaw’s design was based on the Wind class of Coast Guard icebreakers, but the cutter was built wider and longer than the other Wind-class vessels so that her draft would be shallower. Because she was built specially for the Great Lakes — she was too wide to fit through the pre-1959 Saint Lawrence Seaway — her hull was built lighter than the Wind-class vessels, but shared many characteristics, such as a relatively short length in proportion to the great power developed, a cut-away forefoot, rounded bottom, and fore, aft and side heeling tanks. Diesel electric machinery was chosen for its controllability and resistance to damage, and she also had a bow propeller. She was laid down on 20 March 1943 at Toledo Shipbuilding Company in Toledo, Ohio, launched (sideways) on 4 March 1944, and commissioned on 20 December 1944. The original blueprints of the Mackinaw called for 300 ft in length. She was built with a length of 290 ft.
Amateur radio
The Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet Counties Public Service Communications Organization (CCECPSO), has established a full-time amateur radio station on board the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum.
The CCECPSCO has two repeaters on Mackinaw to provide communications coverage throughout the Straits of Mackinac. These repeaters, operating under the call-sign W8AGB to match the ship's WAGB-83 designation, are on a radio frequency of 145.110 MHz with 103.5 Hz PL tone and 444.375 MHz with 107.2 Hz PL tone. The organization is also actively assisting the museum with restoration and operation of various communications, navigation, and power systems. Included with the radios on board the ship are two Sunair RT-9000 HF transceivers with matching antenna couplers and vertical antennas. Scheduled for spring 2010 is the installation of a third RT-9000 paired with an LPA-9600 solid-state kilowatt amplifier and CU-9100 kilowatt autotuner along with a Sunair F-9800 automatic pre/post filter for each radio to permit simultaneous operation of all three stations, and Sunair RCU-9310 remote control panels.
Amateur radio operators visiting Mackinaw may operate the W8AGB station whenever a CCECPSCO member is present. The CCECPSCO conducts Amateur Radio Field Day operations from Mackinaw on the fourth full weekend in June.
Awards
List of Captains
WAGB 83 had 30 skippers during her nearly 62-year career: