Burton Island (AG-88) was Authorized on 17 December, 1943 and the Keel was laid on 15 March, 1945. The ship was launched on 30 April, 1946 by Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Pedro, California, and Commissioned 28 December 1946, Commander G. Ketchum in command. She was named after an island near the coast of the State of Delaware.

After receiving supplies Burton Island departed San Diego 17 January 1947 and steamed to the Ross Sea, Antarctica, where she arrived 8 February for rendezvous with units of TF 68 on the first (1947) Antarctic Development Project.
She made her way through the ice packs to the Bay of Whales and unloaded supplies and received passengers for the return voyage. She arrived at San Pedro 31 March 1947 after steaming via Port Chalmers and Wellington, New Zealand; and Pago Pago, Samoa.

After undergoing a yard overhaul she picked up supplies at San Francisco and Seattle and departed 25 July for the 1947 Point Barrow Expedition. At Point Barrow, Alaska, Burton Island's helicopters participated in ice reconnaissance and surveys. She returned to San Diego 24 August. Burton Island underwent overhaul and repairs at San Pedro and then joined the second 1947 Antarctic Development Project. She arrived 1 January 1948 at Shackleton Ice Shelf and conducted hydrographic and geological surveys, ice reconnaissance, and demolition experiments in the area. She returned to San Pedro 31 March and underwent ice damage repairs at Long Beach.

Between April 1948 and December 1956 Burton Island participated in 19 different type cruises in Arctic and Alaskan waters. Each time she returned to the west coast she received overhauls of repairs at either Long Beach, Mare Island or Bremerton Naval Shipyards, then resumed her duties on the expeditions. Duties performed included: supply activities, helicopter reconnaissance of ice flows and packs; ice surveys and photographs; oceanographic, hydrographic, geological, coast and geodetic, and hydrophone surveys; electronic interference surveyed underwater demolition team explosions in ice packs; and arctic convoy exercises. Expeditions in which Burton Island took part were Point Barrow Resupply Expeditions (1948-1951), MICOWES-50 A; Beaufort Sea Oceanographic Expeditions; Bearing Sea Explorations; MSTS Project 572; and several expeditions into the Bering and Beaufort Seas as far north as the Arctic circle and the Canadian Northwest Territories near the Mackenzie River.

During March 1949 while undergoing repairs at Long Beach, Burton Island was designated AGB-1. On December 15, 1966, she was transferred form the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Coast Guard and renumbered WAGB-283. The USCGC Burton Island WAGB-283, was decommissioned on May 9, 1978.

Scrapping of the Burton Island...
excerpt from Maritime Administration letter dtd November 21, 1995 as sent by Linda C. Somerville, Chief, Division of Vessel Transfer & Disposal

.."The Maritime Administration sold the vessel by auction under PD-X-1033 dtd August 17, 1980. The vessel was awarded to Levin Metals Corporation, 1800 Monterey Highway, San Jose, California 95112 on October 7, 1980, under contract No. MA-9868 for $261,000. The Burton Island was scrapped as of April 28, 1982."

Submitted by: Captain Lewis O. Smith USN-Ret

USS BURTON ISLAND (AGB-1)...... OUR NAVY dtd May 1961 (Ship of the Month)

The civilian tug Mohawk was in trouble. Trapped in the crushing arctic ice north of Point Barrow, she needed help, and fast. Fortunately the sturdy icebreaker USS Burton Island (AGB-1) was near at hand. Tucking the helpless Mohawk up close in a stern-notch tow, the Burton Island began a marathon trek through the ice.

While her two helicopters chattered overhead searching for leads in the ice, the big icebreaker inched painfully ahead. Time after time the thick ice refused passage forcing the Burton Island to back off, then charge, her inclined bow riding up on and crushing the floes beneath the ship's enormous weight.

At one point the Burton Island became so firmly locked in a huge floe that she was unable to back free using full power. When alternate flooding of her special heeling tanks failed to shake the ship loose, 50 pound charges of C-3 explosive were planted in the surrounding ice. All personnel were ordered below and the charges were detonated. Wham! New cracks appeared in the ice and once again the ship moved ahead.

Seven days later the Burton Island broke through into open water and proceeded to Point Barrow. Stopping just long enough to load supplies for the establishment of ice island Camp "Arlis I," the Burton Island was soon on its way back into the ice.

It is this kind of relentless performance of duty under the most adverse conditions that makes the Burton Island an outstanding ship. This same kind of performance during the Bellinghausen-Amundsen Sea exploration of Deep-Freeze
60 moved President Eisenhower to award her the Navy Unit Commendation.

The Burton Island and her sister icebreakers are the key to successful large scale military and scientific operations in the Polar regions. Their ability to smash a path for supply ships is essential to the maintenance of many DEW line radar sites. And the sizeable complement of oceanographers, hydrographers and cartographers regularly onboard are gathering information not only of use to fellow scientists, but also of great value to our growing fleet of arctic-operating Polaris submarines.

Duty aboard an icebreaker is like serving aboard every type ship in the Navy at once. Besides the ship's main task of breaking through as much as 15 feet of ice, she also functions as a towing vessel, tug boat, cargo carrier, personnel transport, fuel tanker, survey ship, two-helicopter "aircraft carrier" and man o-war armed with a 5 inch 38 and four 40mm anti-aircraft guns.

Because of her rounded, football shaped bottom, the Burton Island rocks and rolls like a Coney Island roller coaster in the open sea. She rolled 58 degrees in the "screaming sixties" last year, and has tilted as far as 65 degrees. Combine this with a period of 7 seconds and its easy to see why some nights are sleepless. Once in the ice however, the 6000 ton, 260 foot ship rides like the Queen Mary.

The Burton Island's ice breaking work is made possible by the special hull design. The frames are only 16 inches apart, and the hull is 1-5/8 inch steel plate.

Her propellers are alloyed for extra hardness, and diesel electric drive is employed for the quick response necessary for maneuvering in the ice. The engines can be controlled directly from the bridge by the OOD.

Five inches of cork insulation keep the cold outside. Two oceanographic winches are provided for the survey work which has become one of the ship's most important functions. The ship is also a favorite testing ground for new equipment. Various antenna rigs have been evaluated on board, an air boat tested for ice work, anti-ice paint was experimentally applied and a new helicopter used in the arctic for the first time on Burton Island.

Because the Burton Island normally operates alone, deep within the arctic ice pack, she must be entirely self sufficient. Maintenance and repairs of all kinds must be performed by the crew.

When the transducer in the AN/UQN fathometer failed, diverse wearing special neoprene rubber diving suits were sent into the frigid water. The men could only stay under a few minutes at a time because the extreme cold caused water vapor in the lines to condense into ice, thus cutting off their oxygen. Nonetheless, the transducer was replaced in six days.

The Burton Island has spent most of her 15 years in the Arctic. She pioneered winter operations in the frozen Bearing Sea between Russia and Alaska and traversed unexplored sections of the Northwest Passage. When the ship arrived off Nome, Alaska, in 1949, the people of that small arctic city could hardly believe their eyes. No ship had ever been there in the winter. It was hailed as the "biggest event in Nome since the gold rush."

While on Operation DEEPFREEZE III, the Burton Island visited the Russian IGY station at Mirny, Antarctica. This is believed to be the first of an American military unit to a Russian installation since the beginning of the cold war.

Icebreaking can be lonely work. At times the crew goes for three months without a single stateside liberty. Speedy mail delivery via Point Barrow and the ships ham radio station which places calls to families and friends back home helps keep morale high. Then too work aboard is plentiful. And there is always the possibility of liberty in a penguin rookery in the Antarctic or an Eskimo village near the North Pole.

Immediately after DEEPFREEZE 60, Burton Island commenced "Operation Chipper" off the coasts of Chile and Peru. As observers and scientists from those countries aided, the icebreaker surveyed some 4500 miles of ocean. These jobs completed, the ship was assigned to tow a destroyer tender from Panama to San Francisco and an APA from Astoria to Seattle, Washington. The Burton Island then returned to her favorite haunt, the ice choked Arctic Ocean.

Once in the Arctic, the Burton Island was ordered to establish ice island Camp ARLIS I, deep within the polar pack. The camp "floe" was picked out by scientists aboard the Burton Island's HTL-7 helicopter. A red dye marker cross was spread out to identify the chosen floe, 19 miles from the ship.

Some hours late the Burton Island arrived and began off-loading cargo on and around the clock basis. Ten prefab houses, 225 drums of gasoline and diesel oil, two diesel generators to provide electrical power, 12,000 gallons of bulk diesel oil, and other supplies necessary to establish the camp where unloaded in a record 40 hours and 45 minutes.

Overall, the cargo totaled more than 125,000 pound. Since the ice floe was spotted with snow and potholes too soft to support the weasel, it was to drag most of the cargo 1500 yards from ship to campsite on large sleds.

Construction began immediately. By the evening of the next day, all heavy equipment had been moved to the campsite, six of the prefab houses had been erected, the bulk diesel oil had been pumped into four plastic tanks erected on the ice and temporary lighting had been installed in the huts.

On the following day, flag raising ceremonies were held. At that time all buildings had been completed, communications established with Point Barrow and the ARLIS personnel had moved in.

ARLIS I is the third U.S. ice floe station, and the first established by ship. Previous projects have cost approximately one million dollars to establish and maintain, with scientific production commencing not less than two months after initial occupation. Ship established ARLIS I is estimated to have cost 60 thousand dollars, and scientific production began six days after the Burton Island came along side.

Setting up camps like ARLIS I, blazing trails through the ice, these and all the other tasks that fall to Burton Island mean long hours of hard and often hazardous work. But the icebreaker men don't mind. They know they are doing important work and doing it well and that's what counts. And after a while they learn to enjoy trading punches with mother nature in the perilous wonderland of the arctic, north of Point Barrow.

How the Burton Island looked during her career
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