Coast Guard Cutters Traverse the Northwest Passage by Dean Ellis

In 1957, the Coast Guard icebreaking cutter Storis and the buoy tenders Bramble and Spar navigate through the ice attempting to find a northwest passage across the Arctic -- an ambition of mariners for almost 400 years. In July 1957, the 230-foot icebreaking cutter and the 180-foot buoy tenders sailed through the Bering Sea to determine the feasibility of a northwest passage. Throughout the 4,500 mile journey through Arctic waters, the lead ship passed through heavy ice floes by running its bow up onto the ice, the weight of the ship breaking the ice and creating a wide channel. The lead ship would then push forward and spread the ice until it was stopped and the process was repeated. The three ships crossed the Arctic in 64 days, making them the first American ships to make the passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, north of the North American continent. Spar later became the first ship to circumnavigate the continent in one year. (Permission to reprint this work must be obtained from the artist. For information, contact Mary Ann Bader at [email protected].)