View source for Bay-class tugboat

{{Short description|US Coast Guard icebreaking tugboat class}}
{{about|a class of icebreaking tugboats in the United States Coast Guard|radio station WTGB|WTGB}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin |sclass=2}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay.JPG
|Ship caption=The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter ''Thunder Bay'' clears a channel for vessels to navigate the frozen Hudson River
}}

{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=Bay class
|Builders=[[Tacoma Boatbuilding Company]], [[Tacoma, Washington]] and [[Bay City Marine Incorporated]], [[National City, California|National City]], [[California]]
|Operators=United States Coast Guard
|Class before= WYTM-110
|Class after=
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=1977-1987
|In service range=   
|In commission range=1979-present
|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned=10
|Total ships completed=9
|Total ships active=9
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship type=Icebreaking [[tugboat]]
|Ship displacement=662 tons
|Ship length={{convert|42.7|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|11.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|3.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship ice class=
|Ship propulsion= diesel electric: 2 Fairbanks Morse diesel engines with Westinghouse DC generators, 1 Westinghouse DC motor
|Ship speed={{convert|14.7|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range=*{{convert|1500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|14.7|kn|km/h}}
*{{convert|3500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}
*{{convert|6000|nmi|km}} at {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=17 (3 officers)
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=2 × [[M240 machine gun]]s
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''Bay-class tugboat''' is a class of {{convert|140|ft|m|adj=on}} icebreaking [[tugboat]]s of the [[United States Coast Guard]], with hull numbers WTGB-101 through to WTGB-109.

They can proceed through fresh water ice up to {{convert|20|in|cm}} thick, and break ice up to {{convert|3|ft|m}} thick, through ramming. They can also ram [[Pressure ridge (ice)|pressure ridges]] of up to eight feet in thickness. These vessels are equipped with a system to lubricate their progress through the ice, by bubbling air through the hull.

== Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) ==
A SLEP is a major overhaul intended to extend a vessel's service life; it is typically scheduled as the vessel approaches the end of its originally planned service life. The Bay-class tugboat SLEP project includes significant system upgrades and improvements to the propulsion plant; to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; installation of an engine-room fire-suppression system; boat launching davit replacement; Oily Water Separator replacement; stack exhaust configuration modifications; hull air-ice lubrication system; and crew habitability improvements to meet current standards (including removal of lead paint). When the Coast Guard described the Bay-class tugboat SLEP to the U.S. Congress in 2015, the first SLEP was scheduled to take 12 months; however, the Coast Guard anticipated that after the third SLEP the [[United States Coast Guard Yard|Coast Guard Yard]] would have enough familiarity with the process to complete two SLEPs per year, with an anticipated duration of 9 months each. The first of nine cutters (''Morro Bay'') entered SLEP at the Coast Guard Yard on July 1, 2014.<ref>https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OCFO/United%20States%20Coast%20Guard%20(USCG)%20-%20Coast%20Guard%20Yard%20Dry-dock%20Facilities%20and%20Industrial%20Equipment.pdf. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117033231/https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OCFO/United%20States%20Coast%20Guard%20%28USCG%29%20-%20Coast%20Guard%20Yard%20Dry-dock%20Facilities%20and%20Industrial%20Equipment.pdf |date=2016-11-17 }}</ref> ''Morro Bay'' returned to her homeport of Cleveland in September 2015 <ref>http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2605666/Coast-Guard-Cutter-Morro-Bay-returns-to-Cleveland-following-14-month-overhaul{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:ADM-Stosz001.jpg|360px|thumb|[[President of the United States|President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] tours {{USCGC|Katmai Bay|WTGB-101|6}} with the commanding officer, Coast Guard Lieutenant (now Vice Admiral) [[Sandra L. Stosz]] in 1990]]

==Ships==
* [[USCGC Katmai Bay (WTGB-101)|(WTGB-101) ''Katmai Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Sault Ste. Marie, MI]] / Builder: [[Tacoma Boatbuilding Company]])
* [[USCGC Bristol Bay (WTGB-102)|(WTGB-102) ''Bristol Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Detroit, MI]] / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company)
* [[USCGC Mobile Bay (WTGB-103)|(WTGB-103) ''Mobile Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Sturgeon Bay, WI]] / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company)
* [[USCGC Biscayne Bay (WTGB-104)|(WTGB-104) ''Biscayne Bay'']] (Homeport - [[St. Ignace, MI]] / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company)
* [[USCGC Neah Bay (WTGB-105)|(WTGB-105) ''Neah Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Cleveland, OH]] / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company)
* [[USCGC Morro Bay (WTGB-106)|(WTGB-106) ''Morro Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Cleveland, OH]] / Builder: Tacoma Boatbuilding Company]
* [[USCGC Penobscot Bay (WTGB-107)|(WTGB-107) ''Penobscot Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Bayonne, NJ]] / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated)
* [[USCGC Thunder Bay (WTGB-108)|(WTGB-108) ''Thunder Bay'']] (Homeport - [[Rockland, ME]] / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated)
* [[USCGC Sturgeon Bay (WTGB-109)|(WTGB-109) ''Sturgeon Bay'']] (Homeport - Bayonne, NJ / Builder: Bay City Marine Incorporated)
* (WTGB-110) ''Curtis Bay'' (Construction cancelled)

==See also==

* [[Bay-class lifeboat]] - three vessels with the [[Canadian Coast Guard]]
* [[Samuel Risley-class icebreaker]] and buoy tender with the [[Canadian Coast Guard]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Katmai Bay class icebreaking tug}}

*[http://www.uscg.mil/datasheet/140wtgb.asp USCG page]
*[http://www.uscg.mil/reserve/magazine/mag1997/aug1997/wtgb.htm USCG Magazine article]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050123105928/http://www.wellandcanal.ca/shiparc/uscg/biscaynebay/bay.htm Welland canal page]

{{Bay-class tug}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bay-class icebreaking tug}}
[[Category:Bay-class icebreaking tugs| ]]
[[Category:Ships built by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company]]