CCGS Amundsen[note 1] is a Pierre Radisson-class icebreaker and Arctic research vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.

The vessel can carry 2,471 m3 (544,000 imp gal) of diesel fuel and has a range of 35,000 nautical miles (65,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) and can stay at sea for up to 100 days.

While transiting the Northwest Passage, heading to the icebreaker's assigned base in Newfoundland, Franklin lost a propeller in Viscount Melville Sound and was rescued by CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent and returned to the west coast.

In June 1994, at the height of the Turbot War, Sir John Franklin was among the Coast Guard vessels sent to monitor the European fishing fleets on the Grand Banks.

That summer, she was contracted to Newfoundland-based shipping company Canship for use as an accommodations vessel during exploration work at a coastal nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in northern Labrador.

In 2001, the Canadian Coast Guard announced that it could not provide an icebreaker for research purposes in the Arctic that year.

[10] In 2002, a consortium of Canadian universities and federal departments submitted a proposal to convert Sir John Franklin into an Arctic Ocean research vessel.

The refit included the addition of a moon pool, which enables scientists to lower scientific instruments from inside the hull without cutting a hole in the ice, multi-beam sonar, the replacement of heating and electrical systems, and installation of state-of-the-art scientific equipment.

[12] Shortly after re-entering service, Amundsen began its career as a research vessel, departing for King William Sound.

[10][12] The ship remained in the Arctic for 398 days, split over two missions, an expedition to the Beaufort Sea and the other in support of Inuit communities in Nunavik.

In 2004, Amundsen became the first Canadian vessel to offer hospital services to the Aboriginal peoples living in remote locations in Canada's north since the controversial CCGS C.D.

In 2009, the ship was sent to collect new environmental data in the Beaufort Sea in co-operation with the oil exploitation sector.

[20] On 24 August 2018, Amundsen was directed to assist Akademik Ioffe, a research vessel that had run aground in the western Gulf of Boothia.