CCGS Sir William Alexander

Designed as a light icebreaker and buoy tender, Sir William Alexander and sister ship {{ship|CCGS|Edward Cornwallis}} differ from the rest of the class by having one less deck in the superstructure and their buoy-handling derricks mounted forward. Sir William Alexander had her derricks replaced by a crane in 1998.Maginley and Collin, p. 177 Sir William Alexander displaces {{convert|4662|LT|t|lk=in}} fully loaded with a {{GT|3727.2|disp=long}} and a {{NetT|1503.0|disp=long}}. The ship is {{convert|83.0|m|ftin}} long overall with a beam of {{convert|16.2|m|ftin}} and a draught of {{convert|5.8|m|ftin}}.Saunders, p. 95{{cite web |url=http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Fleet/Vessel?vessel_id=101 |title=CCG Fleet: Vessel Details – Sir William Alexander |publisher=Canadian Coast Guard |access-date=27 November 2016}}

The vessel is powered by is propelled by two fixed pitch propellers and bow thrusters powered by three Alco 251F diesel-electric engines creating {{convert|8,847|hp|lk=in}} and three Canadian GE generators producing 6 megawatts of AC power driving two Canadian GE motors creating {{convert|7040|hp}}. The ship is also equipped with one Caterpillar 3306 emergency generator. This gives the ship a maximum speed of {{convert|16|kn|km/h|lk=in}}. Capable of carrying {{convert|784.0|LT|t}} of diesel fuel, Sir William Alexander has a maximum range of {{convert|6500|nmi|km|lk=in}} at a cruising speed of {{convert|13.7|kn|km/h}} and can stay at sea for up to 120 days. The ship is certified as Arctic Class 2.

The icebreaker is equipped with one Racal Decca Bridgemaster navigational radar operating on the I band. The vessel is equipped a {{convert|980|m3|abbr=on}} cargo hold. Sir William Alexander has a flight deck and hangar which originally accommodated light helicopters of the MBB Bo 105 or Bell 206L types, but in the 2010s, the Bell 429 GlobalRanger and Bell 412EPI were acquired by the Canadian Coast Guard to replace the older helicopters.{{cite web |url=https://verticalmag.com/features/better-faster-stronger-canadian-coast-guards-new-helicopter-fleet/ |title=Better, Faster, Stronger: The Canadian Coast Guard's new helicopter fleet |last=Johnson |first=Oliver |work=Vertical Magazine |date=5 January 2018 |access-date=5 April 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105182234/https://www.verticalmag.com/features/better-faster-stronger-canadian-coast-guards-new-helicopter-fleet/ |archive-date=5 January 2018 }} The ship has a complement of 26, with 10 officers and 16 crew. Sir William Alexander has nine additional berths.

The ship was constructed by Marine Industries at their yard in Tracy, Quebec with the yard number 451.{{csr|register=MSI|id=8320482|shipname=Sir William Alexander |accessdate=27 November 2016}} Sir William Alexander was launched on 23 October 1986 and entered service on 13 February 1987. The ship is registered in Ottawa, Ontario, and homeported at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

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| footer = CCGS Sir William Alexander assisting in New Orleans relief operations following Hurricane Katrina; mission crew shortly before arriving home.

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{{see|Canadian response to Hurricane Katrina}}

On 6 September 2005, CCGS Sir William Alexander left Halifax Harbour, together with the Canadian warships {{HMCS|Athabaskan|DDG 282|2}}, {{HMCS|Ville de Québec|FFH 332|2}} and {{HMCS|Toronto|FFH 333|2}},{{cite news |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/martin-praises-katrina-relief-efforts/article1123408/ |title=Martin praises Katrina relief efforts |first=Terry |last=Weber |work=The Globe and Mail |date=6 September 2005|accessdate=8 October 2013}} to participate in a humanitarian aid mission named Operation Unison, which provided relief to part of the devastated Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States following Hurricane Katrina.Tracy, p. 282

Sir William Alexander participated in the mission as a supply vessel, and also to effect repairs to aids to navigation (navaids). The decision to assign Sir William Alexander to the Operation Unison task force was unprecedented in Canadian Coast Guard history as no icebreaker from the service has operated for an extended period of time in southern tropical waters such as the Gulf of Mexico, aside from transiting the Panama Canal to and from British Columbia.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/apr_06/canada.shtml |title=Canadian Beacon-Operation Unison |last=Evanson |first=Christopher |magazine=Mariners Weather Log |volume=50 |number=1 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |date=April 2006 |accessdate=27 November 2016}}

On 19 September 2005, it was announced that the three warships were no longer needed in the Gulf of Mexico, given the massive U.S. military response as well as increasing civilian aid flowing into the region. Sir William Alexander was exempted from returning to Canada however, as her heavy lift capabilities were considered useful for ongoing repairs to aids to navigation which were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and later Hurricane Rita (23 September).{{cite press release |url=http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1758 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051129030802/http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1758 |archivedate=29 November 2005 |title=Operation Unison Draws Down |publisher=Department of National Defence |date=18 September 2005 |accessdate=27 November 2016}} On 28 September, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced that Sir William Alexander was being retasked from relief efforts and navigation systems repair to assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in repairing the damaged network of weather buoys along the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic coasts. She returned to CCG Base Dartmouth from Operation Unison on 24 October 2005.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

Sir William Alexander was involved in a fatal towing incident involving the fishing vessel L'Acadien II during the 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt.{{cite web|url=http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Fleet-Home/Report-Events-lAcadienII |title=Report on the Events Related to the Capsizing and Sinking of L'ACADIEN II off the Coast of Cape Breton – 28 and 29 March 2008 |work=Canadian Coast Guard |year=2013 |accessdate=8 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001233131/http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Fleet-Home/Report-Events-lAcadienII |archivedate=1 October 2013 |df=dmy }} On 30 September 2014, a Canadian Armed Forces Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopter clipped Sir William Alexander{{'}}s antenna during a training exercise in Mahone Bay. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.{{cite news |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1240117-military-chopper-lands-on-island-after-clipping-coast-guard-ship-s-antenna |title=Military chopper lands on island after clipping coast guard ship's antenna |newspaper=The Chronicle Herald |last=Fairclough |first=Ian |date=30 September 2014 |accessdate=27 November 2016}} In February 2017, Sir William Alexander was dispatched to aid the merchant vessel Thorco Crown, which had caught fire in the Cabot Strait. The engine room fire was extinguished but the merchant was disabled. When a tugboat arrived to take Thorco Crown in tow, the tugboat was unable to secure the towline. Sir William Alexander then took Thorco Crown in tow during the night, transferring the tow to the tugboat in the morning.{{cite news |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1440700-coast-guard-aids-ship-after-fire |title=Coast Guard aids ship after fire |newspaper=The Chronicle Herald |date=10 February 2017 |accessdate=13 February 2017}}

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{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Maginley |first1=Charles D. |last2=Collin |first2=Bernard |date=2001 |title=The Ships of Canada's Marine Services |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-070-5}}
• {{cite book |editor-first=Stephen |editor-last=Saunders |date=2004 |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 2004–2005 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Alexandria, Virginia |isbn=0-7106-2623-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Tracy |first=Nicholas |date=2012 |title=A Two-Edged Sword: The Navy as an Instrument of Canadian Foreign Policy |publisher=McGill-Queens University Press |location=Montreal, Quebec and Kingston, Ontario |isbn=978-0-7735-4051-4}}

{{Commons category|CCGS Sir William Alexander (ship, 1987)}}

{{T1100 class icebreaker}}

{{Icebreakers of Canada}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir William Alexander, CCGS}}

Category:Martha L. Black-class icebreakers

Category:Ships built in Sorel-Tracy

Category:Hurricane Katrina disaster relief

Category:1987 ships