research vessel, RV Polarbjørn. Northwind broke ice in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas, northward to the Svalbard archipelago of Norway from September 1988 through October 1988. Northwind then returned to homeport in Wilmington, North Carolina, having steamed over 25,000 miles. DecommissioningNorthwind was decommissioned in Wilmington, North Carolina on 20 January 1989 and transferred to the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia. She was the last remaining of the original seven U.S. built Wind-class icebreakers. Northwind was scrapped at International Shipbreakers, Port of Brownsville, Texas in 1999. The scrapping operation took nearly six months to complete. AwardsNorthwind'' earned two Coast Guard Unit Commendations, both with Operational Distinguishing Devices, during oceanographic experiments in 1963 and 1965. She was awarded three Meritorious Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device for the periods of 14 December 1977 to 10 April 1978, 1 May 1983 to 6 May 1984 and 16 October 1984 to 26 October 1984. During deployments to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for the periods of 15 October 1976 to 5 November 1976 and 1 March 1982 to 31 March 1982, she also received two Coast Guard E Ribbons. Naming honors References External links United States Coast Guard, Historian's Office. United States Coast Guard. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Accessed 20 DEC 2021. Wind-class icebreakers 1945 ships