Like all of the Bay Class icebreakers, the Biscayne Bay has diesel electric propulsion. Diesel engines power electrical generators which provide power for the electric motor that drives the main propulsion shaft and the 8'6" diameter propeller. Power for the Biscayne Bay is provided by two 1,426 hp (1,063 kW) Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines through two 125 kW generators. That power is used to propel the ship with a 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) Westinghouse electric motor which provides high torque at low rpm.

When combined with the bubbler system, this high torque motor can move the Biscayne Bay through fresh water ice up to 20 inches thick, and break ice up to 3 feet thick by ramming.

As I was taking exterior shots of the Biscayne Bay before leaving, I noticed a sign on the fence at the end of the dock saying that since 2001, the end of the dock has been reserved for the largest nesting colony of common terns in the upper Great Lakes. This is a collaboration between the Coast Guard and the Seney National Wildlife Refuge staff. Populations of the common tern have declined due to loss of breeding habitat and competition with gulls for nesting sites.

copyright 2013-224 by Keith Stokes