SAFETY AT SEA

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 26, 10 January 1930, Unnumbered Page

SAFETY AT SEA

Another means by whichradio and its allied sciences are ensuring the sajety of human life

IRELESS first came.to its own _as a means for furthering the safety of life at sea. It was then its most important. application. .It is its:-most important application to-day. The

uttermost parts of the earth were already linked together by the telegraph, but by. wireless alone has the earth heen linked to the sea.

Though’ the importance of. wireless from the shipping point of view was immediately grasped by the English people, it did not seceive a really striking confirmation until July, 1909, when the liner "Republic" collided with the "Florida" in a thick fog on the high seas. The "Republic" was sinking, and plunged in darkness, the wireless cabin was splintered; but the apparatus was still workable, and the operator set an example which has been followed without a break by ships’ wireless operators ever since. He stuck to his post, ‘and by his calls for help the whole of the passengers and crew were ‘aved. The next day that operator’s name was known and honoured ell over the world. His name was Jack Binns. The. next.startling confirmation was when the "Titanic," with some 8000 people on board, struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage ! across the Atlantic. Her signals of distress were. picked up by ‘, several ships. which raced to the rescue, but when they arrived the . "Titanic" had sunk, and they were only able to save some 900 ‘ persons. Without wireless, all would have been lost. The International Convention, N the following year an International Conference on The Safety of Life at Sea was held in London. An International Convention was signed, but unfortunately, owing to the outbreak of the war, it was never ratified by any-of‘ the Governments represented at the conference. Immediately after the war, however, the British Government issued regulations. which were.on the general lines proposed, and other governments followed suit with regulations which, on the whole, were less stringent than those laid down for British ships. Another International Conference was held in London last year, and a new convention signed which, when ratified, as we may confidently expect it will be this time, will come into force in July, 1931. It is a long document, but, broadly speaking, its principal TAVNANERUDELSAUTEULURENAGDEERLDDONERAOUEELANODENEATENEEEAOSUOANUSEAUOESASUUUREANSHUNENONESEASURTINGUUROMAITECAUEROETS pOUPASRAPASGRERADORERDSAREAREREDASRERESRCRERSARAARERARASERORDARARRRAASORSLAIS CRs beat

provisions are on the lines of the regulations already in force, and where they differ they are better from the point of view of the safety of life at sea. Ships’ Installations. OR the last ten years it has been laid down that in general all British passenger ships, irrespective: of size, and.

all cargo ships of 1600 tons. and upwards, must be fitted with wireless: telegraphy. Exceptions are made as regards certain ships, such as short voyage ships and ships of primitive build, dhows, junks, and the like. This rule is now accepted internationally in the new Convention, as are the regulations which are in force regarding the minimum technical requirements of the wireless sets installed in ships. The main ship’s transmitter must have a normal range of 100 nautical miles, that is to say, it must be capable of transmitting clearly perceptible signals from ship to ship, over a range of at least 100 nautical miles, under normal conditions and circumstances, the receiver being assumed to be one employing a rectifier of the crystal type without amplification. There must, too, be an emergency transmitter, and both trans‘"mitters must have a note frequency of at least 100.. The emergency transmitter must be placed as high above the water line as practicable, in a position of the greatest possible safety, and must be provided with a source of energy independent of the main: propelling power of the ship and of the main electricity system. It must be capable of being put in operation rapidly; and of -working for at least six consecutive hours. The range of the emergency installation must be at least 80 nautical miles for ships required to keep continuous watch, and at least 50 for all other ships, and whilst the ship is at sea the source of power must be maintained at its -full efficiency. . The ship’s receiver must be capable of maintaining reception in emergency by means of a rectifier of the crystal type, and must be able to permit of the reception of the waves laid down for the Sransciiesion. of time signals and meteorological messages. -cContinued on page 2. TTT TTT TTT oc eSZBaeareennraseahecemareaeeanees senne moe COUP TILEC EP SRARTEV EBACE SESE RET ARA CART RETEST TERELE SER CEECRERE EEN EERE CER ECE RSE Eee

, Safety at Sea (Continued from front page.) Directional Receivers. ITHIN two years from the date on ‘which the Convention comes into force every passenger ship must be equipped also with directional receiving apparatus. This is the first time that .such apparatus has been made compulsory fitting. All our large passenger ships are already fitted; in fact about 20 per cent. of our ships fitted with wireless are equipped with this apparatus, so that the new regulation will not affect us much, but it is most . important from the Anternational point of view. Directional receiving apparatus in a ship enables the operator to obtain the bearing of the .ship from any other ship or any shore station which istransmitting wireless signals, so that its importance from the safety point of view is obvious. It is of great assistance to navigation in foggy weather -and has frequently enabled a ship in distress to be located by another ship which is coming to the rescue, When more ships are fitted it will also, no doubt, prove of help in assisting ships to avoid collisions with other: ships in a fog. It is ‘hoped that Mr. Baird’s nocto- vision system will prove of great value in this connection later on. With this system a ship will be able to direct a beam of infra-red rays in much the same way as a searchlight, and be able to see, on the screen of its noctovision receiver, objects in the path of the rays ea

Wireless Beacons. URING the last few years a number . of wireless beacons have been established around our. coasts, and: those of other maritime countries... More than 100 are now working and about half of these are in the United States, These beacons emit their call signs automatically at specified times, so that a ship fitted with a directional receiver can obtain a bearing on a, beaeon station upto a range of about 50 miles. A few beacons emit a revolving beam, which enables a ship. to ébtain a bearing with its normal wireless receiver, and some others emit a sub‘marine sound signal simultaneously . with the wireless signal, so.that a ship may obtain not only its bearing but also its distance from the beacon. There are, too, a large number of coast stations which are fitted with directional recelyers, by which means they -can obtain the bearing of a ship, and pass on the information tothe ship by wireless. ‘The SO 8. ~ HE most important application of wireless in connection with the safety of life at sea is itg use for the SQS signal, which is broadcast by a ship only when the ship itself is in danger. The signal consists of the three letters sent as one sign, and repeated three ‘times. "This "is followed by the distress. message. giving the ship‘s position and particulars of the case of distress, Distress work is carried out on the 600-metre. wave ‘on which all ships are normally keeping watch, and all other signalling ‘ceases as soon as the distress signal is heard., The coast stations-in this country: deal with -nearly 100 distress cases .eyery year. haa ed ~

The station which deals with the distress call keeps the Coast Guards, the Nayal Authorities and Lloyds in touch with the situation, so that all possible means may be taken in providing assistance from the shore. The new. Safety Convention recommends that the distress signal should normally be preceded by the Alarm Signal, which is used to put into operation the auto-alarm receiving apparatus in ships in the vicinity. This apparatus is arranged to ring. bells in the ghip for the purpose of calling the operator to the wireless cabin whenever the alarm signal is received. Autoalarms have been.in use in many British ships for the last two years, but other countries were a little sceptical of their practical utility, and the fact that this apparatus was recognised internationally at the recent Convention ensures the more general adoption. of the apparatus throughout the world. The Alarm Signal consists of a series of twelve dashes sent in one minute, the duration of each dash being four ‘seconds, and the duration of the space between, dashes one second. Weather bulletins, gale warnings and navigational warnings are’ now broadcast from the majority 6f coastal stations the world over; and these reports are the only use ‘made of wireless telephony in connection with the safety of life at sea, It is interesting to note that trials are now being made in England -and other countries with the transmission of photo-telegraphy of weather charts for the use of ships at sea, In conclusion, there can be no doubt that the advent of wireless has done more towards furthering the safety of life at sea than any other invention the steam engine.