FOG AT SEA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 8 May 1925, Page 5

FOG AT SEA

HOW IT IS BEING SCIENTIFIC-*

ALLY DEALT WITH

Fog merely inconveniences the landsman. To the sailor it is a dangerous enemy. All sense of direction goes when its dense, grey pall descends upon the face of the waters. A sailor lias none of the “guides” that are available ashore, for there are neither railings nor lamp posts on the ocean highways. About all that a careful navigator can do when fog envelops liim is to “slow down and hoot-.” Usually that is what he does, in the hope, not always realised. of avoiding collision. But science has now provided means of fighting fog at sea if shipowners care to adopt them, states “Jackstaff” in the Daily Mail. Some do —and some do not. Syrens and submarine bells are efficient up to a point. But it is electricity that provides the most effective devices for minimising the dangers attendant upon fog at sea. It- is applied io the purpose in various ways. Of these one of/the most useful is the “leader” cable, so-called because itleads -‘ships up and down the right channels no matter how thick the weather may be. Up to the present time these cables have been laid :in harbour approaches only. There is brio at Portsmouth, one at-Cherbourg, and one in the, Ambrose channel at- New York. . Others have tyeeii projected for Southampton and for the short crossChannel passage between England and France. But- they are expensive affairs, costing at- least £6OO a mile to lay. A “leader” installation consists of a cable laid along the bottom of a channel and charged with electricity from a station ashore. Immediately a ship “picks up” the Veaßie the electric current radiating from it makes sound signals in an apparatus on Tier bridge, and thus tells her navigator all that he wants to know iii order- to steer a safe course. An alternative svsteni is for the current from the ‘cable- to light signal lamps on the ship’s bridge in place of giving her audible fnessages. For ships farther out at sea tvire-less stations do pilot work by infovmijig them of their bearings and position, 'or telling them wliero' they jure, and in which direction' to proceed. Of these direction-finding stations the best known un our coasts is the’one on the island of Inehkeith, Firth of Forth lhe United States, France, Canada, and other countries also possess them. All that a ship needs to enables her to make use of these stations is a directionfinder. Under some' conditions her ordinary wireless will suffice. Not-amlv does electricity save many vessels from being wrecked in thick weather, but it likewise puts money into owners’ pockets -by preventing vessels from being delayed by log. Already it has, done much to lessen the risks of sea travel. But it is capable. of doing much more, aud clever brains are constantly at- work developing its efficiency in this direction.