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USCG Cutter USS BEAR AG-29
This 48" long was
commissioned by a museum
in Alaska in 2010
History of the
USCG Cutter Bear:
The USS Bear was a dual
steam-powered and sailing ship built with six inch thick sides which had a long life in
various cold-water and ice-filled environs. She was
a forerunner of modern icebreakers and had an
exceptionally diverse service life. According to the
United States Coast Guard official website, Bear is
described as "probably the most famous ship in the
history of the Coast Guard."
Built in Scotland in
1874 as a steamer for sealing, she was owned and
operated out of Newfoundland for ten years. In the
mid-1880s, she took part in the search for the
Greely Expedition. Captained by Michael Healy of
the United States Revenue Cutter Service (later part
of the U.S. Coast Guard), she worked the 20,000 mile
coastline of Alaska. She later assisted with relief
efforts after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Her services also included the second expedition
of Admiral Richard E. Byrd to Antarctica, and again
to the southernmost continent in 1941 to evacuate
Americans at the beginning of World War II. She
later served in patrol duty off the coast of
Greenland for the United States Navy. Between some
of these missions, she was a museum ship in Oakland,
California and starred in the 1930 film version of
Jack London's The Sea-Wolf.
After World War II, Bear was returned to use again
as a sealing vessel. Finally, in 1963, 89 years
after she had been built, while being towed to a
stationary assignment as a floating restaurant in
Philadelphia, Bear foundered and sank in the North
Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles east of Cape
Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The figurehead from Bear
is in the collection at the Mariners' Museum in
Newport News, Virginia.
About the construction of the
Cutter USS BEAR
wooden scale model:
- Built from scratch over
hundreds of hours by master artisans
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Exquisite woodworking. High quality woods include cherry, birch, maple and
rosewood
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Plank-on-frame
construction
- Authentic extensive rigging system comprised of many
different sizes of rope and features numerous blocks and
deadeyes
(We never cut them
short for the convenience of packing and low cost
shipping)
Learn model about the USS
Bear here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bear
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