Sea Princesses Tour Coast Guard Station Rockland

Rockland, Maine - This year's Sea Princesses had the opportunity to tour Coast Guard Station Rockland on Thursday, July 14th, 2016 in Rockland, Maine.

The Sea Princesses learned about how the station works, duties of each member, the operation of their 47 foot Motor Lifeboat, 25-Foot Defender Class Boat (RB-HS/RB-S/RB-S II) and the Cutter Thunder Bay, Sea Princesses were able to tour them.

According to Coast Guard their 47-foot MLB was the replacement vessel of the circa 1963-1972 44-foot MLB. Is is primarily designed as a fast response rescue rescue in high seas, surf, and heavy weather environments to operate in up to 30FT seas, 20FT surf, and winds up to 50 knots. With safety in mind, 13 water-tight compartments were constructed. Similar to the 44-foot MLB, the 47-foot MLB can self-right in only 30 seconds. With state of the art electronically controlled engines, fuel management systems and integrated electronics suite, including 4 coxswain control stations, the 47-foot MLB has become the ideal platform for operations in extreme at seas weather conditions. With construction completed, 117 47-foot MLBs are in service throughout the Coast Guard Rescue Station community, serving the public.

Coast Guard says, Originally developed as a replacement for 300 shore based non-standard boats, the
RB-S became the platform to increase the long term HLS capability at shore stations in the wake of September 11, 2001. The RB-S is very similar to the rapidly procured RB-HS boat, but with dozens of improvements to include a reinforced bow, full shock mitigating seating, larger cabin and LED navigation lights. Over 540 RB-S were produced between 2002 and 2009, and they are assigned all over the Coast Guard at sectors, stations, MSRT/MSSTs, MSUs, training centers, and some AUXFACs. As some RB-S near the end of their 10-year service life, they will be replaced with the RB-S II starting in 2012.

According to Coast Guard, The 140-foot Bay-class Cutters which includes Thunder Bay are state of the art icebreakers used primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. They are named after American Bays and are stationed mainly in Northeast U.S. and Great Lakes.

WTGBs use a low-pressure-air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements.

The Sea Princess learned a lot about the Coast Guard and what their mission is. Thank you to those who gave us the tour of the station, boast and cutter.

Note to mention is Rockland became a Coast Guard city on June 16th, 2016. As a Coast Guard city, they make special efforts to acknowledge the professional work of the Coast Guard men and women assigned to their area. Making Coast Guard men and women and their families feel at home in their home away from home is an invaluable contribution to morale and service excellence. The Coast Guard is pleased to recognize Coast Guard Cities -- those cities that have extended so many considerations to the Coast Guard family and their dependents. Other Coast Guard cities are Grand Haven, MI, Eureka , CA, Mobile , AL, Wilmington , NC, Newport , OR, Alameda, CA, Kodiak, AK, Portsmouth, VA, Traverse City, MI, Astoria, OR, Sitka, AK, Clearwater, FL, Newburyport, MA, Sturgeon Bay, WI, Camden County, GA, Cape May, NJ, Elizabeth City, NC, New London, CT and Carteret County, NC.