Icebreaker Mackinaw (retired)

Now a museum, by Mackinaw City's old railroad ferry dock.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped to pay our respects to this wonderful old lady. A fine tour; highly recommended.

WAGB-83 was built during WW II, launched in 1944, and spent over six decades breaking ice and doing other necessary chores, mostly in or near the Straits of Mackinac. Her main job was extending the Great Lakes shipping season, so ore could make its way to the steel mills around Pittsburgh and Gary. She's been replaced by a very different icebreaking ship with the same name, working out of Cheboygan.