Ice breaker: US Coast Guard sends first solo ship to North Pole

[Onkel Neal]

On September 5, the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy became the first American surface ship to reach the North Pole unaccompanied.

Submarines underneath the ice typically accompany the surface ships.

This trip marks only the fourth time that a US surface vessel has reached the North Pole, and the first since 2005. Healy has been used for three of the four voyages.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment...-to-North-Pole