THE WHITE TERROR OF THE ATLANTIC SHIP LANES Wide World Photograph A huge iceberg sighted in the North Atlantic by the Coast Guard cutter Tampa within a few days of the thirteenth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. AN ICE PATROL CUTTER IN HEAVY WEATHER AT SEA Photograph by N. Brunilla The Tampa and the Modoc divide the responsibility of keeping a constant vigil in the North Atlantic in order to warn transatlantic liners of the One or the other of these sturdy vessels is on guard night and day, in fair weather and foul, for four critical months. iceberg menace. THE ICEBERG DANGER ZONE IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC From March 1 to July 1 this dreary space of fog-bound ocean is patrolled by two vessels of the United States Coast Guard, with a third vessel in reserve. One of the three is on guard 24 hours a day to protect ships plying the busiest water trade route in the world. iceberg season. Each of the contracting parties consented to bear a share of the cost in proportion to its shipping tonnage. The United States Revenue Cutter Service, now known as the United States Coast Guard, was charged with the duty of maintaining the patrol. Therefore, when the cutters sail for the Banks' ice guard every March, they go in the name of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, but serve the shipping interests of the entire world. Icebergs have always been the dread of the transatlantic navigator. They drift hither and yon. They give no warning of their presence. They are propelled now by ocean currents, now by tides, and now by winds and waves. Fog is their constant companion. A vessel speeding through an area in fested with moving ice, during night or in fog, plays a game of chance. Even on a starlit night a berg cannot be seen beyond a half mile; but when the position of the ice is known to the navigator, the danger is eliminated; he can alter his course to avoid the menace. NO SHIP SACRIFICED TO ICEBERGS IN 14 YEARS The ice comes down every year, as it has for centuries; but now every berg that follows the eastern edge of the Grand Banks into the steamer lanes is kept under surveillance by the International Ice Patrol. From this Service navigators can learn the answer to the question which each asks: Where is the ice? Not a single ship has been lost through collision with an iceberg since the patrol was inaugurated, fourteen years ago. Greenland's "icy mountains" alone are Photograph from Lieut. Commander F. A. Zeusler READY TO STAND WATCH ALONG THE LANES OF TRAVEL IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC The Modoc and the Tampa comprise an international fleet, for while these Coast Guard ships fly the United States flag and are manned by American officers and seamen, the patrol is maintained in the names of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States (see text, page 4). the source of the icebergs that come as far south as the steamer lanes, journeying about 1.800 miles-approximately the distance from Washington, D. C., to Denver-before they become "white specters" to shipping. With the exception of a small strip of coast line. Greenland is completely covered with a vast ice cap.* Its estimated thickness is 5,000 feet. Always the ice mantle is moving down the slope of the land toward the sea, in great glaciers, pushing out through the valleys. As the ice reaches the sea it noses out into the water until buoyancy lifts it up, and then the front of the glacier breaks off at a weak spot. There is a deafening roar and a thunderous crash, and with a tidal splash the glacial fragment plunges heavily into the sea, almost submerging. The water is *See "Flying Over the Arctic." by Lieutenant Commander Richard E. Byrd, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for November, 1925. RECEIVING A MESSAGE IN THE "MODOC's" RADIO ROOM This operator transfers from ship to ship at sea with the ice observer and does not see land from March to July (see text, page 7). churned into creamy waves as the newborn berg shakes off the sea, regains its equilibrium, and settles itself comfortably for a long journey southward. It rides majestically, indifferent to the fact that it has set sail for oblivion. GREENLAND GLACIERS ARE SOURCES There are eight principal berg-producing glaciers in Greenland. The worst offenders are those of Disko Bay, Jakobshavn, and Torsukatak, Karajak, and Umanak. Then there are the three other west coast glaciers-Upernivik, Godthaab, and Frederikshaab. One berg-producer, the Sermilik Glacier, is on the east coast; but it is of no moment, as far as the steamship captain is concerned, since bergs from this coast rarely ever menace the travel lanes. Bergs are discharged in vast numbers. from these Greenland fiords. Yet few come south of Newfoundland. Many are too small to last long. Many ground on the shores of Labrador and Newfoundland, particularly in years when the shore. ice is scant. Others are caught in an eddy of the Gulf Stream off the southern tip of Greenland and melt away. Only the fittest survive the buffetings of the sea, to be carried south on the flow of the Labrador Current and along the eastern edge of the Banks into the Gulf Stream. This warm current gives them short shrift; but until they have dwindled to the size of an ample library desk they are capable of staving in a vessel's plates. The Labrador Current, although a danger-carrier, has its usefulness. It teems with all kinds of marine life, affording breeding and feeding grounds for our best food fish. The current from the Arctic does not have a year-round constant flow along the Grand Banks. Like a river, though for different reasons, it is in flood in the spring. Beginning in February, it picks up volume and speed, reaching a maximum toward the last of April, when it is a real power, gathering sufficient force to whirl the bergs along at a rate of more than two miles per hour. Then the Gulf Stream gradually spreads north and pinches it off. |