STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Two U.S. Coast Guard boats will welcome guests on deck for tours in Door County throughout the week.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutters Escanaba and Neah Bay will be in Sturgeon Bay for the city’s annual Maritime Week.
It’s a chance to tour some boats not normally found in the area.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Michaels says they already welcomed in the cutter Escanaba which is bigger than most ships they see.
“She has the ability to house aircraft on her decks and she can also have them inside a hanger.”
Later in the week, tours will be available for the Neah Bay, a large ice-breaking tugboat from Cleveland, Ohio.
Michaels says one thing that stands out is the state of the art technology that these older boats have.
“It is a 35-year-old cutter, so people think that they still have old technology, but a lot of time they go through a technology upgrade as technology changes.”
The Neah Bay tours will be throughout the day on Wednesday and Friday
The 270-foot Escanaba is based in Boston.
The cutter is named after its predecessor.
The original USCGC Escanaba was stationed in Grand Haven, Michigan until the start of WWII.
It was sunk by either a mine or enemy torpedo on June 13, 1943 while escorting a convoy between Greenland and Newfoundland.
Neah Bay will arrive Wednesday and have tours from 10:00 a.m. to noon and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.
The ship can continuously cut through 20 inches thick and break ice up to three feet thick.
