Juneau’ future U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker has a new paint job that includes the historic name “Storis,” the same name of a cutter nicknamed “The Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast” that was stationed in Juneau after World War II.
A picture shared online by a Coast Guard public affairs officer of its newest icebreaker, originally built as the commercial ship Aiviq in 2012, shows it now painted in the same red hues as other modern icebreakers in the fleet and the Storis name appearing on the stern. The original Storis was a light icebreaker in service from 1942 to 2007 — including being stationed in Juneau from 1948 to 1957 — making it the oldest vessel in the Coast Guard’s fleet when it was decommissioned.
The news site Military.com and maritime publication gCaptain both reported this week the new ship is in a Tampa, Florida, shipyard and shared photos taken by observers revealing what appears to be the vessel’s new name, but stated Coast Guard officials did not respond to inquires seeking confirmation.
Attempts by the Empire to contact Coast Guard spokespeople after normal business hours on Wednesday evening were also unsuccessful.
The newly acquired icebreaker is tentatively scheduled to be homeported in Juneau within a couple of years, after receiving various upgrades to make it fit for service in the Arctic, with an estimated 190 personnel and about 400 of their family members relocating here. Extensive local infrastructure and other local improvements to accommodate the vessel and its crew are also expected.
The original Storis has ties to Juneau that extend to today, with models of the ship during peace and wartime in a display case at the Marine Exchange Building. A full-length 2015 documentary by Juneau resident Damon Stuebner titled “STORIS: The Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast” features the cutter’s nearly 65 years of service. And an effort that ended about a decade ago was made by a group of Juneau residents to convert the Storis into a local floating museum.
Joe Geldof, who donated the Storis models to the Marine Exchange Building and was part of the museum project, said Wednesday reviving the name — assuming it becomes official — is a landmark tribute both to the ship’s lengthy legacy as well as Juneau’s longtime role as an important Coast Guard port for many decades.
“The top line on this is it’s wonderful that the United States Coast Guard is going to rename a vessel after the Storis because of all the vessels that have served in the Coast Guard… the Storis is probably the second- or third-most significant,” he said. The first, he added, is the Bear cutter that had Capt. Mike Healy at the helm and “did legendary work” helping people along the entire coast of Alaska in ways the Storis became the heir apparent for.
“Even in the ‘50s and ‘60s there was no dentist up in some of the Native villages, and so they put a dentist on from the public health service, and they’d go up and check people’s teeth and fill cavities,” Geldof said. The Stories also did a number of other enforcement and service duties including fisheries patrols, search and rescue, and transporting of supplies, mail and teachers to villages.
But upon being commissioned as an ice patrol tender in September of 1942 the Storis was, quite expectedly, immediately deployed for wartime duties. Geldof said the ship initially patrolled the Greenland coast seeking out German weather stations to report to Allied forces. Later it was a convoy escort between Greenland and Canada, before being homeported in Maryland for the first few years after the war ended and then stationed in Juneau.
One of the most notable aspects of the Storis while it was docked in Juneau was its mascot pitbull Red Dog, which indeed was reddish in color and was apparently named after the famous saloon where the ship’s crew spent considerable time, Geldof said.
The U.S. Coast Guard light icebreaker Storis visits Juneau in October of 2006. (Creative Commons photo by Gillfoto)
The Storis would go on to take part in the search for the Northwest Passage in 1957, was the first U.S.-registered vessel to circumnavigate the North American continent, was on-scene when the 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit Anchorage and participated in the 1990 rescue of the fishing vessel Alaskan Monarch off Saint Paul Island that has been featured on shows such as “Deadliest Catch,” according to Coast Guard records.
Despite the effort of Geldof and others to preserve the ship, it was sold for scrap metal in 2013. He said today “we tell people about the connection between Juneau and the Storis, but it was back in the ‘50s and their eyes glaze over, and it’s not real to them.”
Having a newly acquired icebreaker homeported in Juneau with that old name should revive much of that history, Geldof said. He said he also considers it an appropriate name for the new ship, even though the original set a longevity record while the newer one is considered a stopgap vessel with limited capabilities that can be deployed for some purposes while the Coast Guard waits for new heavy duty Polar Security icebreakers to be built several years from now.
“At least they’re remembering one of the great ships there,” he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
