Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the USCGC MACKINAW (WLBB 30) departed the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard October 16th after completing its 5-year inspection and other maintenance and improvements. The vessel arrived at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding back on August 24, 2024.
She was built by Marinette Marine Manitowoc Marine Group for the United States Coast Guard to serve as an icebreaker on the Great Lakes. She replaced the ageing MACKINAW (WAGB 83) that was built in 1943/44 by Toledo Shipbuilding.
The USCGC MACKINAW (WLBB-30) keel was laid February 9, 2004. The vessel was launched April 2, 2005, and commissioned June 10, 2006.
Specifications:
Registration IMO # 9271054
Length 240 feet
Beam (width) 58.5 feet
Draft 16 feet
Displacement 3,530 long tons
Power three 4,180 horsepower Caterpillar 3612 V12 diesel engines driving through two 4505 horsepower ABB Azipods with 10-foot diameter, 4 blade propellers and on 500 hp bow thruster
Rated speed 16 knots
Cost (approx.) $118,000,000
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Tom Wenstadt, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, is a retired marine engineer, having worked in the Great Lakes area for thirty-seven years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is the author of Freighters of Manitowoc. He is a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is a volunteer archival assistant and docent for the JOHN PURVES.
Photo by Bob Kuhn: MACKINAW (WLBB 30) dated August 7, 2017
