FLOATING DEATH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 301, 21 December 1933, Page 5

FLOATING DEATH

THE ICEBERG MENACE KEEPING IT IN CHECK ICE PATROL'S WORK. From Greenland’s icy mountains, in a majestic, stately parade, come each year to the busy ship lanes of the North Atlantic those huge, beautiful peaks of floating glacial ice culled icebergs. Once these gleaming monsters were considered by ship captains as the deadliest of all menaces to navigation. They arc nearly always accompanied by a heavy, enveloping fog. Some of them stand as high as 300 ft. above the surface and have sharp, jagged arms below water, solid enough to smash the steel plates of the largest ocean liners. Yet to-day the iceberg is no longer the dread ogre of the sea. On July 1, the close of the iceberg season, three trim cutters of the United States coast guard set their courses for Boston. Since last March 1 they had been cruising the North Atlantic off the coast of Labrador, fighting the annual “war” by which man has conquered the iceberg menace. Although flying th c American flag and representing a branch of the armed forces of the United States, these cutters actually represent every great maritime nation in the world in the annual campaign against icebergs. Through international agreement these nations share thc cost of thc “war,” says the Manchester Guardian. As its name implies, the International Ice Patrol service is an enterprise for the discovery of iceberg locations and the dissemination to navigators of this information. An iceberg is a menace only when its whereabouts is unknown. The patrol service was created and begun in 1914. and since that time no ships or lives have been lost at sea from collisions with icebergs. A ship travelling the North Atlantic lanes to-day is constantly informed by radio from the patrol cutters as to the exact whereabout of floating ice and warned to alter its course if the ship is approaching dangerous water. After the Titanic. The Titanic disaster was the principal reason for the international discussions which ended in the creation of th e patrol service. The conference was held in London, and the United States was asked to undertake the actual work of thc patrol. The task was assigned to the coastguard and the armed cutters Modoc and Tampa were built especially for this service. In view of the remarkable record of thc patrol, it is amazing that no similar service was in existence before the loss of thc Titanic. This huge White Star liner was the largest steamship afloat when it started on its maiden voyage to America in 1912. It crashed into an iceberg just south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Fifteen hundred persons perished. News of the disaster so shocked thc entire civilised world that steps were taken immediately for the organisation of an iceberg patrol service in which all of the great maritime Powers would participate. The countries represented in maintaining the patrol are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The three cutters arc equipped with new and old style radio transmitters and receivers, so that they can communicate with every radio-equipped vessel sailing the North Atlantic lanes. Most of the larger icebergs come from the west coast of Greenland, from the glacier tips in thc vicinity of Disko Bay. The Current of Labrador carries them through Davis Strait and into the Atlantic. Many of them are obstructed from further travel by thc coast of Labrador, but a great many more get free and sail southward for a distance of 400 miles before they reach the warm Gulf Stream and melt away. A Complete Survey. It is the duty of the patrol cutters each March to make a complete survey to locate all the bergs and icefields floating into or towards the ship lanes and then to keep track of the ice until it has melted. Finding thc icebergs and fields is done scientifically by taking water temperatures. The danger zone begins with what is known as the “cold wall,” a lino which divides the warm Gulf Stream current and the Current of Labrador. Once the “cold wall” has been located, the patrol boats start their systematic search for the ice and send out their i epea ted radio warnings and information. Aboard th 0 cutters the radio room is a scene of tense activity--24 hours a day. The operator sends out regular broadcasts at stated hours, and in the meantime receives and sends special messages to dozens of ships inquiring for special information. The captain of a large passenger liner, for example, will give his course and ask if there is any danger of ice in that direction. Thc patrol may answer with a warning to change course or tell thc captain to proceed. In many respects the patrol acts as a sort of traffic policeman of the North Atlantic, and the authority of the patrol boat commander is absolute. In addition to the huge task of tracking down every dangerous berg and icefield, the patrol is engaged in carrying on research to discover, if possible, a means of destroying dangerous ice formations.