The wreck of the legendary cutter USS Bear was recently identified off Cape Sable. The wreck was located in 2019 but it was only in August of this year that a team of experts looking at the evidence came to the conclusion that they are “reasonably certain” that the wreck is indeed the Bear, officials of the US Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said at a waterfront news conference in Boston.

The Bear sank in 1963 about 260 miles east of Boston as it was being towed to Philadelphia, where it was going to be converted into a floating restaurant.

In a storied career spanning almost 90 years, the Bear spent 40 years patrolling waters off Alaska, as well as serving in both world wars and participating in both Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.

The ship is probably best known for the years when she was under the command of Captain Michael A. Healy, also known as “Hell Roaring” Mile Healy, patrolling an area the size of the lower 48 states on behalf of the United States Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter Serice became part of the US Coast Guard in 1915.

Captain Healy earned the respect and admiration of both whalers and native Alaskans. In 1891, Captain Healy and the crew of the Bear rescued 160 whalers when four whaling ships broke apart and sank at Point Barrow in a southwest gale.

When overhunting of seals and whales caused a famine among the Alaskan Yup’ik, Healy transported, at his own expense,16 reindeer from the Natives of the Siberian Coast to the Seward Peninsula. In 1892, another 171 reindeer were added to the herd and Teller Reindeer Station was established. More reindeer followed. Healy was recognized by Congress for his life-saving work in the Arctic.

The blog, Native Voices, comments that the reindeer helped end the famine among the Yup’ik and remain an important source of food and income for many Alaska Native tribes. Even today, Captain Healy and “Healy’s Fire Canoe,” the cutter Bear, are held in high regard among Alaska Natives. The elders in many Alaskan villages still tell stories of Captain Mike Healy to the next generation.

Captain Healy was the first man of African-American descent to command a United States government ship. The son of an Irish immigrant who owned a plantation in Georgia and a Caribbean creole, Healy appeared to be Caucasian and never acknowledged his racial background. He is said to have faced prejudice in the Revenue Cutter Service for being an Irish Catholic.

The Bear was built in Scotland in 1874 as a sailing steamer for sealing. Massively strong, her hull featured six-inch thick wooden planking. Bear was rigged as a sailing barquentine fitted with a 300 hp steam engine to help move the ship through ice. 

The Guardian notes that the Bear saw service during both world wars, patrolling Greenland’s waters in the second world war and helping capture a German spy vessel.

Between the wars, the Bear was repurposed as a maritime museum by the city of Oakland, California; used as a movie set; and purchased by Admiral Richard Byrd for use in his Antarctic expeditions.

The ship was decommissioned in 1944 and remained in Nova Scotia until its trip to Philadelphia ended prematurely in 1963 about 90 miles south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, according to NOAA.

“Bear had served in various capacities for nearly 90 years, a remarkable record for a ship built of wood,” said William Thiesen, Coast Guard historian.

Thanks to Doug Bostrom and Seymour Hamilton for contributing to this post