On the Ice

© David Eldred

1963

QM2 David Eldred

The USCGC Eastwind (W-279) was one of seven "wind class" ice breakers. The Eastwind was commissioned in 1944 and, in WWII, had the distinction of capturing the German ship Exernsteine, the only enemy ship to be captured intact during the war. After 1945, the Eastwind saw ice-breaking duty at both poles. In 1960, it became the first ice-breaker to circumnavigate the globe. The Eastwind was scrapped in 1968.