CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 The icebreaker and flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent alongside the pier at her homeport, CCG Base Dartmouth. |
|
| Career (Canada) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent |
| Namesake: | Louis S. St-Laurent |
| Owner: | Government of Canada |
| Operator: | Canadian Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Canadian Vickers, Montreal |
| Commissioned: | 1969 |
| Refit: | 1988–1993 (Halifax Shipyards) |
| Homeport: | CCG Base Dartmouth |
| Status: | Active in service as of 2008 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Heavy Arctic Icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 11,441 tonnes (12,611.54 ST) |
| Tons burthen: | 5,370 tonnes (5,919.41 ST) |
| Length: | 119.63 metres (392.49 ft) |
| Beam: | 24.38 metres (79.99 ft) |
| Draught: | 9.91 metres (32.51 ft) |
| Ice class: | 100 A |
| Installed power: | 20,142 kilowatts (27,010.87 bhp) |
| Propulsion: | 3 GE direct current motors powered by 5 x Krupp Mak 16M453C |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 205 days |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
|
| Complement: | 46 |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 x MBB Bo 105 or equivalent |
| Aviation facilities: | yes |
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.
Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, the vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG.
Built in 1969 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal, Quebec, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent underwent an extensive and costly modernization at Halifax Shipyard Ltd. in Halifax, Nova Scotia between 1988-1993 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 the Polar 8-class of mega icebreakers for promoting Canadian sovereignty in territorial waters claimed by Canada; the 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, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.
She has been based at CCG Base Dartmouth in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for her entire career. 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, CCGS 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.
In the summer of 2006 CBC's The National went on the Louis S. St-Laurent in a special series focused on climate change. [1]
The vessel was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2000 however a refit extended the decommissioning date to 2017. In the February 26, 2008 federal budget, the Government of Canada announced it was funding a $721 million Polar Class replacement vessel for CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
[edit] References
- ^ CBC News In Depth: Northwest Passage
- ^ "Budget 2008: Chapter 4 - Leadership at Home and Abroad", Government of Canada, February 27, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Arctic icebreaker, fishing port, tax break a start: northerners", CBC News, Wednesday, February 27, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ Chris Windeyer. "Feds to replace old icebreaker", Nunatsiaq News, February 29, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04. "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."
- ^ Lee Berthiaume. "Icebreaker Replacement Deadline Looms: Despite $720 million in yesterday's federal budget, procurement for a new polar icebreaker will take eight to 10 years", Embassy, Canada's Foreign Policy Newsletter, February 27, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04. "Despite setting aside $720 million in yesterday's budget to purchase a new polar class icebreaker, the government will be cutting things close if it wants to decommission the ageing Louis St. Laurent heavy icebreaker as scheduled by 2017, according to Canadian Coast Guard commissioner George Da Pont."
- ^ Brodie Thomas. "Reaction mixed on fed's budget", Northern News Services, Monday, March 3, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ Tara Mullowney. "Feds fall short: Ottawa must do more, politicians say", Southern Gazette, March 4, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04. "...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.”"
- ^ Bartley Kives. "Red Amundsen our flag in white Arctic", Winnipeg Free Press, February 28, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
