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USCGC STORIS
As one of
the most accomplished cutters ever to serve the U.S.
Coast Guard, Storis had considerable historic
significance to justify museum status. The only example
of her class, the 230-foot Storis was commissioned on
September 30, 1942. She saw considerable action during
World War II in the North Atlantic and waters around
Greenland, guarding critical mineral mines and U.S. Army
air bases on the island. Storis participated in convoy
duty and was instrumental in searching for and
eradicating German meteorological stations around
Greenland.
In the summer of 1957, Storis started a historic
journey. She departed in company with the Coast Guard
buoy tenders Spar and
Bramble conquered the Northwest Passage to establishing and
charting a successful path through the Northwest Passage
in response to defense concerns caused by Cold War
tensions with the Soviet Union. The were to search for a
sea route deep enough to support larger, deeper draft
cargo ships and to collect hydrographic information.
Thee three cutters set sail on July 1st from Seattle,
Washington. Gaining a better understanding of ice floe
movements and transiting through them without sustaining
severe damage or getting stuck in the ice pack was
critical for future shipping activity in this region.
The three
cutters were under the overall command of Coast Guard
Cmdr. Harold L. Wood, commanding officer of Storis. Spar
was skippered by Lt. Charles V. Cowing and Bramble was
skippered by Lt. Cmdr. Harry H. Carter. While in
Franklin Strait, the cutters became trapped in an ice
floe field for a number of days before Spar freed itself
and then helped the other vessels reach clear water.
During this time, the cutters continued their mission of
charting and recording water depths, correcting old
charts, in addition to leaving moored buoys to mark
future shipping lanes.
On
September 6th, with help from HCMS Labrador, Storis,
Spar, and Bramble navigate the challenging
seventeen-mile passage in the Bellot Strait. In doing
so, they became the first deep draft ships to sail
through this waterway. Continuing eastward, they
sailed toward Lancaster Sound, crossed the Arctic
Circle, and steamed into the Labrador Sea. Heading
homeward, they continued along the eastern Canadian and
United States coasts. By October, all three cutters had
reached their respective homeports and thus went down in
history as the first American vessels to transit
through the icy seas of the Northwest Passage and
circumnavigate the North American continent.
In World
War II, Storis participated in the Greenland
Patrols. She patrolled the east coast of Greenland to
prevent the establishment of German weather stations.
Following
the war, on 15 September 1948, Storis was reassigned
to Juneau, Alaska where she participated in the Bering
Sea Patrol, which entailed
delivering medical, dental and judicial services to
isolated native villages in the far reaches of the
territory. At the same time, Storis assisted in
establishing Alaskan LORAN radio-navigation stations,
provided supplies for the Distant Early Warning Line and
conducted hydrographic surveys in the uncharted waters
off the Arctic.
Storis participated
in the rescue of the fishing vessel Alaskan Monarch, in
March 1990. Video of this incident often appears on TV
shows such as Deadliest Catch, to illustrate the dangers
of working in Bering Sea waters. Storis also had a cameo
in the 2006 film The Guardian.
In 1972, Storis underwent a major renovation converting
her from a light icebreaker to a medium endurance
cutter. The primary functions of Storis shifted to
enforcing laws and treaties of the domestic and
foreign fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Storis underwent
another major maintenance overhaul in 1986 that replaced
her power plant and expanded her living quarters to
include a new berthing area for women and a lounge for
the crew.
In 1991, USCGC Storis became the oldest commissioned
cutter in the Coast Guard fleet, a title she held until
she was decommissioned in 2007--64 years and 5 months.
On 31 December 2012, Storis was formally listed on
the National Register of Historic Places by the State of
California. "Storis" is a Scandinavian word meaning
"great ice."
We build this
primarily wood model of the USCGC Storis in two
versions, at her historic voyage and before
decommissioning when her number was gold, signifying
she was the longest serving ship.
19" long (1/144
scale), 27.5" long (1/100 scale), 32" long (HO
scale). Email us for prices.
We can also build an ice scenic
base for this model or a large one that shows the three historic ships Storis,
Spar, and
Bramble
during their Northwest Passage voyage.
Learn more about the Coast
Guard
STORIS here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Storis
https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/3628183/the-long-blue-line-first-us-transit-of-the-northwest-passage-1957/
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