Search for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear

Search for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear

Image Gallery

This page contains photos associated with the Search for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear expedition. Click on any image to view a larger version and for additional information.

Bear lies at rest, after a challenging but successful mission.

Bear lies at rest, after a challenging but successful mission.

Crane lifting the winch off the fantail of the Bear.

Crane lifting the winch off the fantail of the Bear.

Bear’s Engineering Team working on installing to winch and A-frame.

Winch Installation

Bear’s Engineering Team working on installing to winch and A-frame.

Night operations using the A-frame fabricated by the Bear Engineering team.

Night Operations

Night operations using the A-frame fabricated by the Bear Engineering team.

John Bright and Joe Hoyt installing the new tow-point bracket on the side scan “fish.”

Bracket Installation

John Bright and Joe Hoyt installing the new tow-point bracket on the side scan “fish.”

The towfish on deck, prior to being launched.

The towfish on deck, prior to being launched.

The winch used to raise and lower the towfish.

The winch used to raise and lower the towfish.

Joe Hoyt and John Bright conduct survey equipment maintenance.

Joe Hoyt and John Bright conduct survey equipment maintenance.

John Bright makes needed modifications to the sidescan instrument.

John Bright makes needed modifications to the sidescan instrument.

The Boston skyline passes by as U.S. Coast Guard Cutter <em>Bear</em> heads to the North Atlantic.

The Boston skyline passes by.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bear have done an extraoridinary job of preparing the vessel for its unusual research mission.

The crew have done an extraoridinary job of preparing the vessel for its unusual research mission.

Google Earth displays of Earth (left), the Moon (middle), and Mars (right).

Google Earth Displays

Google Earth displays of Earth, the Moon, and Mars.

Port side of what is believed to be the tugboat New Hope

Port side of what is believed to be the tugboat New Hope.

During the seventh dive of the Gulf of Mexico 2017 expedition, remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer explored an unknown shipwreck identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management simply as “ID Number 15377.”

ROV Deep Discoverer explores an unknown shipwreck.

High-resolution multibeam data collected during the Deep Connections 2019 expedition overlain on existing altimetry data, shown in grey.

High-resolution multibeam data overlain on existing altimetry data.

Newly installed equipment on the fantail of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bear.

Newly installed equipment on the fantail of the Cutter Bear.

Commemorative painting showing the 270-foot Medium-Endurance Cutter Bear and her namesake, Revenue Cutter Bear, under sail and steam.

Commemorative painting of the Bears.

Klein 3000 (left) and Klein 3900 (right) towfish.

Klein 3000 towfish.

U.S. Revenue Cutter <em>Bear</em> (no location/date/photographer identified).

U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear.

A posed crew photo on the deck of the Bear, including Asian enlisted men seated on bottom row.

A posed crew photo on the deck of the Bear.

Painting of U.S. Revenue Cutter <em>Bear</em> under sail and steam on the Bering Sea Patrol.

Painting of U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear.

Chart from the original 1979 search for Bear undertaken by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Harold Edgerton and Coast Guard Academy cadets on board the Buoy Tender Conifer.

Chart from the original 1979 search for Bear.

Photo of the Navy’s deep-sea diving submersible NR-1 prior to her decommissioning in 2009.

Photo of the Navy’s deep-sea diving submersible NR-1.

Profile view of the “Famous”-Class medium-endurance cutter Bear.

Colorized profile view showing hull and sail rig of Cutter Bear.

Close up of Bear mooring to a pier showing her hull and sail rig.

Close up of Bear mooring to a pier showing her hull and sail rig.

Full broadside view of Bear at anchor sometime in the early 20th century.

Full broadside view of Bear at anchor sometime in the early 20th century.

An 1884 photograph of the survivors of the Greely Expedition, including Adolphus Greely, and men of the relief expedition.

Greely Expedition Survivors

An 1884 photograph of the survivors of the Greely Expedition.

USS <em>Bear</em> anchored in Godhaven Harbor, Greenland, in 1884 as part of the famous Greely Relief Expedition.

USS Bear anchored in Godhaven Harbor, Greenland, in 1884.

Colorized photograph of Adolphus Washington Greely.

Adolphus Washington Greely

Colorized photograph of Adolphus Washington Greely.

The colorful Captain “Hell Roarin’” Mike Healy, first African-American ship captain and famed skipper of the Bear.

The colorful Captain “Hell Roarin’” Mike Healy.

An 1880 photograph of Michael A. Healy, first commissioned African-American officer in federal service.

An 1880 photograph of Michael A. Healy.

Faded image of reindeer hauled on board Cutter Bear in August of 1891.

Reindeer on Bear

Faded image of reindeer hauled on board Cutter Bear in August of 1891.

Loading reindeer from the docks on board the Bear in 1896.

Loading Reindeer

Loading reindeer from the docks on board the Bear in 1896.

Painting showing the 1892 transfer of Siberian reindeer by Cutter Bear under the command of Captain Healy.

Reindeer Transfer

Painting showing the 1892 transfer of Siberian reindeer by Cutter Bear.

Photo of U.S. Coast Survey field party in Siberia transported by Cutter Bear.

Photo of U.S. Coast Survey field party in Siberia transported by Cutter Bear.

An 1892 chart of the Pribilof Islands, showing Bear’s cruising track lines and signed by Captain Michael Healy and his navigator.

An 1892 chart of the Pribilof Islands, showing Bear’s cruising track lines.

Native Alaskans on main deck of the Bear.

Native Alaskans

Native Alaskans on main deck of the Bear.

A 1900 photograph of Nome, Alaska, showing tents and mining equipment during the local gold rush.

A 1900 photograph of Nome, Alaska.

A painting showing the Bear saving whalers drifting in pack ice after losing their ship.

A painting showing the Bear saving whalers.

Bear officers, including Second Lt. Ellsworth Bertholf (front row far left), First Lt. David Jarvis (front row third from left), Captain Francis Tuttle (center), and U.S. Public Health Service Surgeon Samuel J. Call (back row far right).

Bear officers, including Second Lt. Ellsworth Bertholf, First Lt. David Jarvis, Captain Francis Tuttle, and Samuel J. Call.

1897 Overland Expedition approaches whalers trapped in the Arctic ice.

1897 Overland Expedition approaches whalers trapped in the Arctic ice.

From left to right, Lt. Ellsworth Bertholf, Dr. Samuel J. Call, and Lt. David H. Jarvis posed for a commemorative photograph.

Lt. Ellsworth Bertholf, Dr. Samuel J. Call, and Lt. David H. Jarvis posed for a commemorative photograph.

In recognition of his heroic deeds in the Overland Relief Expedition, Congress awarded Jarvis a Congressional Gold Medal referred to as “The Jarvis Medal.”

Congress awarded Jarvis a Congressional Gold Medal.

Painting by marine artist C.R. Bryant of the USS Bear during the 1939-1940 Antarctic Expedition.

Painting by marine artist C.R. Bryant of the USS Bear.

Polar explorer later U.S. Navy flag officer Richard Byrd.

Polar explorer later U.S. Navy flag officer Richard Byrd.

USS <em>Bear</em> moored to the ice shelf at West Base, Antarctica, in January 1941 showing the vessel's pre-World War II configuration.

USS Bear moored to the ice shelf at West Base, Antarctica.

Appearing very different from her last Greenland visit in 1884, USS Bear (AG-29) returned in 1944 as part of the Coast Guard’s Greenland Patrol.

USS Bear (AG-29) returned in 1944 as part of the Coast Guard’s Greenland Patrol.

Rare 1960 photograph of the Bear tied up to a pier in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Rare 1960 photograph of the Bear tied up to a pier in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Last known image of the famous cutter Bear not long before she took the final plunge to the bottom.

Last known image of the famous cutter Bear.