Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Closson, a diver at Coast
Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Closson, a diver at Coast Guard Regional Dive Locker East, tends a line as two other divers are lowered into the water from the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star at the National Scienc... More
Coast Guard Cutter supports Operation Deep Freeze 2016
Kevin Vollbrecht, an engineering development technician with Aerovironment Inc., launches a PUMA AE unmanned aircraft system from the flight deck of Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star during Operation Deep Freeze 20... More
Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Closson, a Coast Guard
Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Closson, a Coast Guard Regional Dive Locker East diver, splashes into McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, during a dive, Feb. 6, 2016. The water temperature the day of the dive was recorded... More
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's deck
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's deck department practice throwing heaving lines at a bucket while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 28, 2016. The deck department uses heaving lines to p... More
A curious Adelie penguin stands near the Coast Guard
A curious Adelie penguin stands near the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. During their visit to Antarctica for Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military's logistical support t... More
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department handle lines to recover the cutter’s boat while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 6, 2016. The cutter boat, capable of transiting waters wh... More
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, outlines the cutter’s recent Antarctic mission on a chart during an interview with KPIX while the cutter is in a Vallejo, Calif., ... More
A sampling of antiquated components used aboard the
A sampling of antiquated components used aboard the Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Polar sit on a workbench in the cutter’s engine control room while the cutter undergoes depot-level maintenance in a dry dock... More
Coast Guard divers prepare for a dive at the National
Coast Guard divers prepare for a dive at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station ice pier in Antarctica Jan. 19, 2016. The dive team deployed with the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star for Operation Deep ... More
Fireman Joseph Guenther, a member of the Coast Guard
Fireman Joseph Guenther, a member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's main propulsion division, relays a message to the cutter’s engineering control central while Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Bryan, a machi... More
Fireman Austin Moilanen, a member of the Coast Guard
Fireman Austin Moilanen, a member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, removes soiled filters from the cutter’s fuel coalescer while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 28, 201... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, lays a test weld on a piece of the cutter’s vital machinery while underway in McMurdo S... More
Chief Petty Officer Joshua Morris, a damage controlman
Chief Petty Officer Joshua Morris, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, heats up a section of metal to prepare it for welding while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antar... More
Seaman Ryan Langlois, a member of the Coast Guard Cutter
Seaman Ryan Langlois, a member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department, prepares one of the cutter’s boats for launching while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 6, 2016. The icebreaker’s ... More
Seaman Jedidiah Hadden, a member of the Coast Guard
Seaman Jedidiah Hadden, a member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s deck department, handles chains during crane training while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 28, 2016. The Polar Star’s deck d... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea near a large group of seals as the ship’s crew creates a navigation channel for supply ships, Jan. 16, 2017. The resupply channel is ... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, with 75,000 horsepower
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, with 75,000 horsepower and its 13,500-ton weight, is guided by its crew to break through Antarctic ice en route to the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station, Jan. 15, ... More
The family of a crewmember aboard USCGC Polar Star
The family of a crewmember aboard USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) embraces as the vessel departs from its homeport in Seattle, Washington, Nov. 26, 2019. The men and women aboard the Polar Star will conduct ice-brea... More
The family of a crewmember aboard USCGC Polar Star
The family of a crewmember aboard USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) wave from the pier at Base Seattle, Nov. 26, 2019. The Polar Star crew departed its homeport for a deployment that will last several months.
The bow of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is covered
The bow of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is covered in snow after weathering a whiteout windstorm with wind gusts of up to 130 mph off of Antarctica, Jan. 14, 2017. The crew of the Polar Star worked through... More
A crane operator lowers the Coast Guard Cutter Polar
A crane operator lowers the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's brow onto fast ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. After reaching suitable ice, the icebreaker’s crew and passengers disembarked the cutte... More
A crew member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star
A crew member of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star watches out of a winder aboard the cutter as the Antarctic Chieftain comes into view and the cutter begins breaking up the ice around the fishing vessel. The P... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is hove-to in McMurdo
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is hove-to in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, fast ice near the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Feb. 2, 2016. The U.S. Coast Guard is uniquely equipped and trained to... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department watches
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department watches as one of the cutter’s boats heads toward the Antarctic continent in McMurdo, Antarctica, Jan. 6, 2016. The deck department handles lines and operates e... More
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star operates
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star operates near two seals off the shore of Antarctica, Jan. 16, 2017. Seeing wildlife unique to Antarctica is one of the many highlights that the cutter’s crew experi... More
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Copeland, a machinery
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Copeland, a machinery technician in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star engineer department, throws a pitch to one of his shipmates during ice liberty on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Ja... More
A ring buoy sits at the ready as the crew of the Coast
A ring buoy sits at the ready as the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star conducts icebreaking operations off the coast of Antarctica, Jan. 16, 2017. Homeported in Seattle, the Polar Star is the Coast Guar... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, grinds paint off of a section of metal in the bilge of the icebreaker’s motor and gear ... More
A Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star boat crew departs the
A Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star boat crew departs the cutter for training in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 6, 2016. During the training, Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston Cummings, a boatswain’s mate in the Pol... More
Lt. Joel Wright, the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s
Lt. Joel Wright, the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s operations officer, watches as the cutter breaks ice around the motor vessel Ocean Giant at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Fe... More
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, conducts an interview with KCBS radio from the cutter’s bridge while the cutter is in a Vallejo, Calif., dry dock facility undergo... More
Petty Officer 2nd Class Travis Curly and Petty Officer
Petty Officer 2nd Class Travis Curly and Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston Cummings, both boatswain’s mates in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department, operate one of the cutter’s boats near Antarctica’... More
Senior Chief Petty Officer Kevin Ball conducts an interview
Senior Chief Petty Officer Kevin Ball conducts an interview with a reporter from KPIX about the Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s recent Antarctic deployment while the cutter undergoes depot-level m... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, lays a test weld on a piece of the cutter’s vital machinery while underway in McMurdo S... More
Seamen Ryan Langlois and Jedidiah Hadden, both members
Seamen Ryan Langlois and Jedidiah Hadden, both members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s deck department, secure the cutter’s brow to a crane while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 28, 2016. The... More
Chief Warrant Officer Seth Endter, an electronics and
Chief Warrant Officer Seth Endter, an electronics and electrical officer aboard Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, conducts an interview with a reporter from KPIX from the Polar Star’s engine control room while the... More
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while the cutter undergoes depot-level maintenance in a dry dock facility in Vallejo, Calif., in preparation for the cutter’s future polar-region patrol, April 16, 2... More
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star stand
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star stand watch at the bow as the Antarctic Chieftain comes into view. The Polar Star, the United States' only operational heavy icebreaker, transits an ice field in the... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice around
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice around the motor vessel Ocean Giant and the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, ice pier Feb. 2, 2016. During Operation Deep Freeze 2016, the ... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Brookes, a damage controlman
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Brookes, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, uses a thermal imaging device to identify hot spots in the cutter’s laundry room during a... More
Families of crewmembers aboard USCGC Polar Star (WAGB
Families of crewmembers aboard USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) watch as the vessel transits Elliott Bay en route to Antarctica, Nov. 26, 2019. The Polar Star, homported in Seattle, Washington, is the United States' ... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is on scene with
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is on scene with the Antarctic Chieftain and the cutter begins breaking up the ice around the fishing vessel. The Polar Star, the United States' only operational heavy icebreak... More
Two Coast Guard divers are lowered from the Coast Guard
Two Coast Guard divers are lowered from the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star into the water at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Jan. 19, 2016. The divers utilized time at McMurdo Stat... More
Fireman William Collier and Petty Officer 1st Class
Fireman William Collier and Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Rodriguez, both members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, help Fireman Austin Moilanen, also a member of the engineering d... More
U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey (center), chairman
U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey (center), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, discuss U.S. ice breaking capabilities and polar operations with Coast Guard Capt. George Pellissier, far left,, c... More
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, outlines the cutter’s recent Antarctic mission on a chart during an interview with KPIX while the cutter is in a Vallejo, Calif., ... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s damage controlmen
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s damage controlmen salute Capt. Matthew Walker, commanding officer, after receiving medals they earned while underway in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 28, 2016. The damage c... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits in fast ice
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits in fast ice in front of Mt. Erebus in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. The Polar Star crew will break a channel through 13 miles of fast ice in McMurdo Sound to es... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star backs and rams through
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star backs and rams through dense ice off the Antarctic coast, Jan. 15, 2017. The Polar Star and its crew work to establish a resupply channel through Antarctic ice to enable ships ... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star approaches Antarctica’s
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star approaches Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf Feb. 4, 2016. The Seattle-based icebreaker is in Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military’s logistical support of the... More
Coast Guard divers check equipment on Petty Officer
Coast Guard divers check equipment on Petty Officer 2nd Class Dylan Smith, a Coast Guard Regional West diver, on one of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s landing craft in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Feb. 6, 20... More
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crew members disembark
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star crew members disembark the cutter for ice liberty on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Feb. 2, 2016. Ice liberty gave the crew an opportunity to walk on multi-year ice after weeks of bein... More
Two Coast Guard divers give the “OK” signal after entering
Two Coast Guard divers give the “OK” signal after entering McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Feb. 6, 2016. Divers deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star for Operation Deep Freeze 2016 inspected an old ice p... More
Petty Officers 3rd Class Ryan Brookes and Agustin Foguet,
Petty Officers 3rd Class Ryan Brookes and Agustin Foguet, both damage controlmen in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, search for a hairline fracture on a piece of the cutter’s reductio... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts a channel into
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts a channel into a field of fast ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. During Operation Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military's logistical support to the National Sc... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jesse Gonzales, a boatswain’s
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jesse Gonzales, a boatswain’s mate in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s deck department, attacks a simulated fire during a drill on board the cutter in the Ross Sea near Antarctica Feb... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department lowers
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department lowers two Coast Guard divers from the cutter into McMurdo Sound at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Jan. 19, 2016. (U.S. Coast G... More
The bow of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star juts out
The bow of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star juts out of fast ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. The 399-foot, Seattle-based cutter is the nation’s only heavy icebreaker. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by... More
Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Bryan, a machinery technician
Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Bryan, a machinery technician in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's main propulsion division, explains simulation procedures before engineering casualty exercises while underway i... More
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Tristan Cavender, a dive
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Tristan Cavender, a dive medical technician at EOD Expeditionary Support Unit 1, helps Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Kamalo, a diver at Coast Guard Regional Dive Locker Pacific, don... More
Contractors conduct work on the hull of the Coast Guard
Contractors conduct work on the hull of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star from the floor of the dry dock where the cutter is undergoing depot-level maintenance in Vallejo, Calif., in preparation for the cutter’... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston Cummings, a boatswain’s
Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston Cummings, a boatswain’s mate in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star deck department, signals the distance of an approaching ice shelf to the coxswain of one of the cutter’s landing... More
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks in a Vallejo,
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks in a Vallejo, Calif., dry dock facility undergoing depot-level maintenance including inspections and repairs to critical cutter components prior to the cutter’s next... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only operational heavy icebreaker capable of conducting Antarctic ice operations, carves a channel in Antarctic ice near the coast of Ross Island, Jan. 16, 2... More
Coast Guard divers deploy from the deck of the Coast
Coast Guard divers deploy from the deck of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star into McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. The dive was part of an area familiarization for the dive team, which deployed with the... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits hove-to in fast
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits hove-to in fast ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. During Operation Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military's logistical support to the National Science Foundatio... More
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while the cutter undergoes depot-level maintenance in a dry dock facility in Vallejo, Calif., in preparation for the cutter’s future polar-region patrol, April 16, 2... More
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast
Capt. Michael Davanzo, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, talks with Lt. j.g. Sam Krackower from the floor of the dry dock where the cutter is undergoing depot-level maintenance in Vallejo... More
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman
Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s engineering department, welds a support bracket to a pipe in the icebreaker’s motor and gear room bilge while u... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) and crew
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) and crew create a navigable channel through the frozen Ross Sea off of Antarctica, Jan. 16, 2017. The 399-foot icebreaker is the Coast Guard’s only operational heavy ... More
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star approaches Antarctica’s
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star approaches Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf Feb. 4, 2016. The Ross Ice Shelf, a glacial mass extending into the Ross Sea dozens of miles off the continent, is the subject of modern ... More
Coast Guard and Navy divers perform an equipment check
Coast Guard and Navy divers perform an equipment check before a dive from the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Jan. 19, 2016. The dive team exercis... More
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star sits on blocks while the cutter undergoes depot-level maintenance in a dry dock facility in Vallejo, Calif., in preparation for the cutter’s future polar-region patrol, April 16, 2... More