USCGC Edisto
Her keel was laid on May 15, 1945 at Western Pipe and Steel Company shipyards in San Pedro, California, she was launched on December 28, 1946, and commissioned on March 20, 1947.[5] Edisto was built during peacetime, so she had a much lighter armament than her war-built sisters, one 5 in (127 mm) 38 caliber deck gun when in Navy service, and unarmed for the Coast Guard.She also collected valuable scientific data concerning geographic, hydrographic, photographic, oceanographic, meteorological, and electromagnetic conditions in the south polar regions.Not even waiting for summer, she sailed out of Boston Harbor on January 24, 1949 to determine how much an icebreaker would be limited by the foul Arctic storms and lowest temperatures.The icebreaker supplied bases, reported ice packs and floes, took part in oceanographic, hydrographic, geological, coast and geodetic, and hydrophone surveys, and participated in Arctic convoy exercises.The following year, on August 6, 1950, Edisto set a record for northernmost penetration by reaching latitude 82 degrees North while conducting oceanographic surveys.While operating far south of New Zealand in an attempt to salvage a naval vessel that had broken loose from its moorings, Edisto encountered what was probably the worst storm of her career.Before returning to Boston in early October 1964, she picked up ten Navy scientists in Iceland and proceeded to the waters between Greenland and Spitsbergen, Norway to carry out an oceanographic survey between June 25 and August 26.[7] On December 10, 1964, Edisto departed for the Antarctic as a unit of the task force for Operation Deep Freeze 65 on an assignment unprecedented in icebreaker history.After her return in early December 1965, Edisto spent the entire winter in the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, where she underwent major repairs and alterations.In 1967, while in company with USCGC Eastwind, Edisto made an unsuccessful attempt to circumnavigate the Arctic, a feat that would have rivaled the 16th century voyages around the world of Magellan and Drake and has yet to be accomplished by surface vessels of any nation.[8] In the autumn of 1972, however, Edisto conducted icebreaking operations off Greenland in concert with the U.S. Navy oceanographic research ship USNS Mizar.U.S. Coast Guard officials, through the U.S. State Department, arranged for the support of Canada's 315-foot (96 m) icebreaker CCGS John A. Macdonald, in case Southwind was unable to free Mizar.John A. Macdonald sailed from Baffin Bay around the southern tip of Greenland and berthed at Reykjavík, Iceland and awaited the call for assistance.On November 24, 1972 she rendezvoused with USCGC Chilula approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of the Nantucket Lightship after first dodging a storm by sailing towards Nova Scotia.Chilula took over the towing and headed to Hampton Roads, Virginia and then to the Coast Guard Yard, where the two cutters arrived safely on November 30, 1972.During the voyage north, Edisto assisted USNS Private John R. Towle, a cargo ship that sustained ice damage to her hull off Hamilton Inlet, Labrador.
USS EdistoEdisto Island, South CarolinaWestern Pipe & SteelWind-classicebreakerDiesel-electricFairbanks-Morseopposed piston enginesWestinghouse5 in (130 mm)/38 caliberM2 Browning machine gunsM60 machine gunsflight deckhangarUnited States NavyUnited States Coast GuardEdisto BandIsland-classpatrol boatSan Diego County, CaliforniaWind class icebreakericebreakersLieutenant CommanderEdward ThieleWorld War IIWind classWestern Pipe and Steel CompanySan PedroCalifornialaunchedcommissionedwaterline5 in (127 mm)deck gunUnited States East Coastshake-down cruiseGreenlandArctic CircleBostonPanama CanalUSS Burton IslandAmerican SamoaRoss SeaAntarcticOperation HighjumpEllesmerepropellerUSS HoistUSS Whitewoodrun agroundTunulliarfik FjordNarsaqArcticoceanographichydrographicgeologicalconvoyCape HallettNewfoundland and LabradorInternational Geophysical YearMontevideoUruguayNew ZealandRichard Evelyn ByrdLittle AmericaBoston Naval ShipyardPrince Christian SoundCape Farewell, GreenlandUSCGC NorthlandIcelandSpitsbergenPalmer StationAnvers IslandUnited States Department of the TreasuryUnited States Department of the NavyBethlehem SteelhelicoptersBaffin BayCoast Guard Unit CommendationUSCGC EastwindMagellanMilwaukeeUSCGC MackinawGreat LakesSaint Lawrence SeawayUSNS MizarcutterUSCGC SouthwindsuperstructureU.S. State DepartmentCCGS John A. MacdonaldReykjavíkWelland CanalUSCGC MorgenthauBaltimoreUSCGC ChilulaNova ScotiaHampton RoadsInternational Ice PatrolicebergsBaffin IslandUSNS Private John R. TowleHamilton InletLabradorEdinburghLabrador SeaGeneral Services Administrationscrap metalNational Defense Service MedalAntarctic Service MedalWayback Machinepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting ShipsWind-class icebreakersStaten IslandEastwindSouthwindWestwindNorthwindBurton IslandEdistoRoyal Canadian NavyCanadian Coast GuardSoviet NavyAdmiral MakarovSeverni Pulius