LATE SHIPPING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18643, 21 December 1928, Page 11

LATE SHIPPING.

THE FATHOMETER. On a voyage from New York to Southampton i*ecently, the liner Levia- ; than carried out very successful experiments with her fathometer, a small apparatus which determines In a fraction of a second the depth of the water under the ship. Mr Oiles Stedman, the liner’s navigator, said:—"The fathometer enabled me to secure 23 soundings a minute, which represents a tremendous saving over the old method of lead sounding, which took from five to fifteen minutes for each sounding. A hammer fitted in the keel of the ship strikes a diaphragm and causes it to emit a short train of sound waves. These waves travel to the ocean bed and, on coming back to the ship, actuate a hydrophone, thereby causing a streak of light in the fathometer indicator in the vessel’s chart room. The depth of water is revealed on a dial. Delays which have occurred in the j>ast should be eliminated. it will no longer be necessary to slow down for a sounding to be taken in a fo B , as it can be done with the vessel steaming at full speed. The apparatus also opens up great possibilities In the marine surveying field.”