USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) was a 290-foot (88 m) vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes. LR number: 6119534

Mackinaw's design was based on the Wind class of Coast Guard icebreakers, but the cutter was built wider and longer than the other Wind class vessels so that her draft would be shallower. Because of this, the Mackinaw was unique in the Coast Guard fleet. Incidentally, this design made the Mackinaw too wide to fit through the pre-1959 Welland Canal, and the Mackinaw never served on salt water.

The Mackinaw was homeported in Cheboygan, Michigan during active service. Due to the Mackinaw's age and expensive upkeep, the cutter was decommissioned and replaced with a smaller multipurpose cutter USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), which was commissioned in Cheboygan the same day.

In 2002 the crew of this cutter painted and refurbished the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.

The old Mackinaw moved under its own power on June 21, 2006 from the port of its decommissioning to a permanent berth at the SS Chief Wawatam dock at the ship's namesake port, Mackinaw City, Michigan where she now serves as a museum ship known as Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum.