Evening star., 1914-07-12

CAPT. e. p. BERTHOLF.
Make the ship safe: run her safely.
and provide minor safety devices for
contingencies which no forethought or
preparedness can meet. This epitomiZeS
the theory for safety at sea of Capt
Ellsworth P. Bertholf, commandant of
the United States revenue cutter serv-
Ice.
A ship can be made safe against 80
per cent of the mishaps that bring
tragedy at sea, he contends. Prudent
navigation is the factor next essential,
and should be the subject of international
regulation. No one nation can afford to
handicap Its merchant marine with rules
that involve expense to which ships OF
other nations are not subjected
With these two things accomplished
a safe ship prudently navigated-there
remains little need for minor safety
devices, such as perfect ifeboats and
efficient force to man them. The ves-
sci itself. in the opinion of Capt.
Bertholf, should offer the greatest ele-
ment of safety. He cites the conditions
of the majority of sea tragedies to show
that the ship is usually the safest
place. and where it has not been SO. he
indicates that it should have been made
so by proper construction.
Capt. BertholfS views on safety at
sea are in harmony with the thought
that dominated the deliberations of the
International Convention for Safety OF
Life at Sea. held in London last year.
The viewpoint of this convention seems
to be adequately representative of the
best expert knowledge on marine af-
fairs. Three practical Seamen of more
than twenty-five Years experience two
practical ship constructors, one prac-
teal marine engineer of long service
and one practical ship manager made
up seven of the personnel of the Ameri-
can delegation of ten members. Five
of these We're in governmental service
Capt. Bertholf's views. in detail, are
set forth in the forgaing article:
BY CAPT. ELLSWORTH p. BERTHOLF.
Commanding the United States Revenue Cutter
Service American delegate 10 the Interna-
rional Conference for Safety of Life at Sea,
held in London
The many problems involved in the
convention adopted by the Internat ton
al Conference for Safety of Life at Sea
were intensely studied by the Ameri-
can delegation for some months in
America before the conference opened
in London. 1t Is safe to assume that
the American delegation would not
have signed this convention if in its
Judgment, the terms of the convention
would not make for decided advance
in the matter of safety at sea.
The entire American delegation believes
that this convention, when put into effect
in good faith by the several nations, will
render oversee travel UNNECESSARILY safer
than it is under existing laws of any one
country at present. The convention is
not to be judged by some particular
law. on some particular point IN some
particular country: but should he judged
by the sum total of the results which the
convention as a whole will accomplish.
Three Safety Essentials.
There are three essentials for safe sea
travel:
Safety of construction. for the ship
itself is the very best lifeboat that can
be devised:
Safety of navigation. which means
prudent navigation to guard against ac-
cident of collision, greatest of all dam
gers at sea:
Provision for saving passengers and
crew in those extreme cases where, in
spite of all effort to insure the two pre-
cedinS essentials. disaster overtakes
the ship and she must be abandoned.
These essentials have been stated in
the order of their relative Importance
I do not mean to imply that the last
essential Is minor or unimportant in it
self; but / do mean that il is of minor
Importance compared with the other
two essentials. since in ninety-nine
cases out of one hundred the necessity
for leaving the ship in her boats is
caused by the failure of either one Of
namely, safety of construction and
safety Of NAVIGATION.
In safety of construction the pro-
visions of the convention are far in ad
vance of those of any country at the
present time. The convention. therefore,
Is an immense advance in the first ele-
ment of safet= at sea-that is. in in
suring a properly constructed ship
The same i tri!" in the matter of safety
os navigation The convention sets up
many safeguards against careless and
imprudent navigation There are two
things provided for in this convention
which. had they been in force at the time
of the Titanic disaster, would have pre-
vented that disaster.
Thus article 10 Of the convention pro-
vides that:
when ice is reported on. or near, his
course the master of every vessel is
bound to proceed at night at moderate
speed or to alter his course so as to &c
well clear OF the danger zone"
Rules Would Have Saved Titanic.
The master OF the Titanic knew there
were icebergs ahead of him and directly
In his course. His information on thai
point was so complete that, having ex.
pected to arrive in the vicinity of thes,
icehergs at a certain time. the Titanic
actually struck this iceberg within ter
minutes of that time. Had article 10 O
the convention been in force. the master
of the Titanic would have been obliged tt
moderate his speed or to alter his cours,
SO as TO go we'll clear of the danger h,
knew to exist. Had ne altered his cours,
he would have escaped collision. Had h,
chosen to moderate his speed the innpac
of the Titanic against the iceberg woulC
not have resulted in damage sufficient t,
sink the vessel
If. on the other hand. the master of tn,
Titanic had elected to disobey both re
quirements of article 10 of this conyen
tion, and had continued his course anC
speed. and struck the iceberg so as t.
cause the sinking of the vessel. neverthe
less the tremendous loss of life would
not have occurred: because under another
requirement. of this present convention