Namesake William H. Latham Launched 1987 | Crew 3 Tonnage 69,850 kg | |
Owner New York Power Authority Installed power 2 × Caterpillar 3412, 625 hp (466 kW) | ||
William H. Latham is a 77-ton icebreaker owned and operated by the New York Power Authority on the Niagara River. Named after William H. Latham, a senior engineer with the Power Authority who died in 1987, her mission is to keep the Power Authority's inlet ports clear of ice. Occasionally, she is used to break open the Buffalo river, or the Lake Erie ice boom for emergency repairs. William H. Latham has been used for DEC fish stocking out of the Dunkirk Harbor, search and rescue for downed aircraft, and search duties for missing hikers on frozen Lake Erie.
During emergencies two crews have worked twelve-hour shifts to keep the vessel at work twenty-four hours a day.
The vessel's design and construction was overseen by Randy D. Crissman.
William H. Latham is assisted by a second vessel, a modified tugboat, known only as Breaker.
Ontario Hydro operates a similar vessel, Niagara Queen, to clear the inlet ports for hydroelectric power generators on the Canadian side.