SHIPWRECK SUIT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1942, Page 4

SHIPWRECK SUIT

4 AWARD MADE TO BRITISH ' INVENTOR. A “shipwreck suit” is the latest British invention for saving seamen’s lives. It is made of a bright yellow rubberised material in two parts combined trousers and overshoes and a hood and coat. The coat sleeves are long enough to cover the hands, and slits in the trouser legs allow the limbs to be taken out easily for massage. The hood is used as a carrier for the complete outfit, which weighs 31bs 6ozs. It is to be worn in lifeboats or on rafts and its bright yellow colour shows up the shipwrecked to rescue ships and aircraft. The inventor is Mr Thomas Metcalfe, 0.8. E., who is Administrative Principal in charge of the life-saving appliances of the Ministry of Transport. The electric light fitting now used for life-saving waistcoats was also Mr Metcalfe’s idea: the light is clipped to the collar strap, and the watertight battery, lasting for ten hours, is kept in a pocket. The Society of Arts has awarded Mr Metcalfe a £5O prize for his shipwreck suit. This prize has been given annually since 1926 for inventions “advancing the science or practice of navigation”; last year it went to the inventor of portable radio equipment for lifeboats. It is a bequest from Thomas Gray whose father wrote the well-known rhymes for teaching seamen the rules of navigation, including the familiar—- “ Green to Green, or Red to Red, Perfect safety —go ahead!”