Evening star., 1962-04-08
By L. EDGAR PRINA
Star Staff Writer

Star Staff Writer
The sinking Of the absolutely
unsuitable" Titanic was, and is,
the worst marine disaster in his
tory. The shock of it made it
clear to all maritime nations that
more attention needed to be
given to the problems of safety
OF life at sea; and it convinced
those who use the North Atlantic
shipping lanes that floating ice
bergS were a deadly menace to
navigation.
The Navy took quick action in
the wake Of this 1912 disaster.
1t dispatched two scout cruisers
to northern waters to stand watch
shortly after the Titanic went
down, 400 miles south of Cape
Race, Newfoundland. The follow
ing year, while international talks
proceeded, the Coast Guard
(then the Revenue Cutter Serv-
ice) took over the ice patrol
tasks, assigning the Cutters
Seneca and Miami.
In January, 1914. the interested
countries signed a treaty calling
for the establishment of an In
ternational Ice Patrol Service.
The Coast Guard got the job.
1t has had it ever since, acting
as a sort of agent for the II
nations which are now sigma
tories.
Today, Coast Guard ships and
planes, equipped with the latest
pertinent scientific gear, are on
their 44th ice patrol. CThere was
no patrol during several years of
World Wars I and H.
Preliminary flights were made
In late February and the patrol,
which the Coast Guard calls lone
of the worlds most successful
ventures in peaceful international
collaboration" usually runs until
sometime in July. Patrol head
quarters are located at the United
States Naval Station, Argentia.
Newfoundland.
400 Ieeberes q Yeor
The Patrol is currently charting
the position and drift of icebergs
and field ice which may endanger
shipping in the vicinity of the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
The southeastern, southern and
southwestern limits of that ice
will be determined and the in
formation disseminated for the
guidance of shipping. Each year,
an average of 400 icebergs drift
into the North Atlantic shipping
lanes.
The major part of the ice recon-
naiSSance is being down by air
craft. But the oceanographic YES
sci Evergreen and the cutters
Acushpet and Tamaroa are also
engaged. The latter are on To-
hour standby status and will be
employed directly when heavy fog
bars air search or when it be-
comes necessary to take station
near icebergs which may reach
the steamer lanes.
1cebergS are q menace which
man cannot control, regulate or
entirely avoid. Breaking off from
the massive Greenland glaciers,
these ice mountains, some as long
as a city block and half as high
above the water, are carried along
by the ocean currents, which, af-
feet their movements much more
than does the wind.
Icebergs cannot be held back,
destroyed or diverted from their
courses. Gunfire hounces off their
sides like a ball batted against a
brick building; bombs may shave
or chip little ice, but are rela-
lively Intellectual. (No one has
as yet suggested using nuclear
bombs)
Demolition Tests
In 1860, the Coast Guard un-
dertook a rather extensive series
of demolition and melting tests. 1t
dropped twenty 1,000-pound high
explosive bombs from an airplane
on one iceberg; it planted ther-
mite, an incendiary-type explosive,
on two others and busted one
with carbon black, which absorbS
the suns heat well and promotes
melting.
What were the reSultS9 An of