The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Griffon

One of the things that brought me up to the St Clair River was the opportunity to see some icebreakers in action.

 The one that really attracted me was the Griffon.  She is a ship that I never saw before, mainly because she normally operates on the other side of the Welland Canal.  I think she was sent over this way to assist in icebreaking operations. 

 She is classified as a High Endurance Multi Tasked Vessel - Light Icebreaker.  I have a feeling that makes her like many of the American Coast Guard Cutters in that she can perform multiple duties.  To her starboard side is the US Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay (more on her in the next post).  This picture provides a good example of the relative sizes of the two ships.  I have a feeling that is probably comparable to the Alder and Hollyhock in size.

 She was built at the Davie Shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec in 1970.  Her displacement is a little over 2000 tons.  She has 25 crew members.  She does have a deck to land helicopters but no hangar.

 In 2009, she caused a flood on the Grand River in Canada while conducting icebreaking operations.

 While the ships were conducting operations, I had my scanner going, so I had some degree of narration during this.  It was pretty cool and I never realized just how much finesse is involved.

 A shot of her bow.

 A closeup shot of her bridge and stack.

 I love the fact that Canadian signage is in both French and English.

 A shot of her stern.

 The almost three quarters view.

 And the headshot.

 Another beam shot.

 You never know when there are Canadians lurking in the woods.

 Just a few more shots as she was attempting to break out the Jackson.

 She pours on the diesels.

And one more shot.