U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay is the third of nine cutters in the Coast Guard's "Bay" class of icebreaking tugs. It is equipped with the second of two 120-foot aids to navigation (buoys) barges operating on the Great Lakes. Homeported in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., the Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay has dual responsibilities in assisting navigation in the Great Lakes. During the winter months, the cutter detaches from the barge and breaks ice in the northern Great Lakes, operating mostly in the straits of Mackinac and the St. Marys River (the waterway which joins Lakes Superior and Huron). The cutter's other major duty is servicing aids to navigation. US Coast Guard Art Program 2003 Collection, Ob ID # 200327, "Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay," Sandra Hart, 20 x 30
