USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)

USS "Atka" (AGB-3) was a "Wind"-class icebreaker that served in the United States Coast Guard, the Soviet Navy and the United States Navy.

Construction began on July 20, 1942 in the Western Pipe and Steel Company shipyards in San Pedro, California, and she was launched on March 8, 1943 by Mrs Ona Jones. On July 15, 1944, she was commissioned as USCGC "Southwind" (WAGB-280).

Russian Service

On 25 March 1945 she was decommissioned and sent to the USSR as part of the Lend-Lease Program. She served in the merchant marine under the name "Admiral Makarov" until being returned to the US Navy on 28 December 1949 at Yokosuka, Japan.

US Navy Service

In 1950 she was returned to the US Navy and rechristened as "Atka", after a small Aleutian island of Atka. Upon her arrival at Boston, "Atka" entered the naval shipyard there for a thorough overhaul and modernization. The work was completed late in May 1951, and "Atka" began operations from Boston in July.

Throughout her career in the American Navy, the icebreaker followed a routine established by the changing seasons. In the late spring, she would set sail for either the northern or southern polar regions to resupply American and Canadian air bases and weather and radar stations. In early fall, she would return to Boston for upkeep and repairs. In the winter, the ship would sail various routes in the North Atlantic to gather weather data before returning to Boston in early spring for repairs and preparation for her annual polar expedition.

The ship often carried civilian scientists who plotted data on ocean currents and ocean water characteristics. They also assembled hydrographic data on the poorly charted polar regions. Atka was also involved in numerous tests of cold weather equipment and survival techniques.

She served in the Atlantic fleet and completed three Arctic tours.

US Coast Guard Service

On 31 October 1966 she was transferred the US Coast Guard and christened again as USCGC "Southwind". She deployed to the Arctic in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973, as well as to the Antarctic in December 1967, December 1968 and January 1972.

In 1976 she was decommissioned and sold.

hip's History

*1942 - Laid down: July 20, 1942
*1943 - Launched: March 8, 1943
*1944 - "Commissioning of the "USCGC Southwind." No photo number; 15 July 1944; photographer unknown. U.S. Coast Guard Photo; 11th Naval District Office, Photographic Section (shown above).
*1945 - After seeing service on the Greenland Patrol, and assisting the Eastwind in capturing the German trawler Externsteine, Southwind was transferred to the Soviet Union on 23 March 1945.
*1946 - Our Soviet allies renamed her Admiral Makarov ("The father of the modern icebreaker," according to the Soviets). She served in the Soviet Navy until 1950 when she was returned to the US Navy.
*1947-1949 - Russian service as Admiral Makarov
*1950 - The Navy renamed her Atka, and she once again changed hands in 1966 when the Navy transferred all remaining Navy icebreakers to the Coast Guard.
*1951-1965 - U.S. Navy Service as USS Atka
*1966 - On 31 October 1966 she was transferred the US Coast Guard and christened again as USCGC Southwind. Leavng the Atka's homeport of Boston, in 1966 Southwind, with its new (renewed) name, changed homeport to Baltimore (Curtis Bay), MD. After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda she and her highly motivated officers and crew proceeded on its first operational cruise north to Thule, Greenland.
*1967-1969 - Service as USCGC Southwind - Operation Deep Freeze, Antarctica
*1970-1975 - Service as USCGC Southwind
*1976 - She remained in service until 1976, when she was decommissioned and sold.

Notes

* A picture of USS Atka was used as the front cover art for Rammstein's album "Rosenrot", and the Japanese version of their album "Reise, Reise".

References

External links

* [http://www.ussatka.org/ USS Atka Association]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Icebreaker_Photo_Index_1.html USGC Icebreaker photos]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/0803.htm NavSource information]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/Externsteine.html US Coast Guard site detailing the Capture of the German Naval Auxiliary Externsteine by the Coast Guard Icebreakers Eastwind & Southwind in Greenland, 1944]