172 MAltlON EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAV 



Lane route G runs between Canada and Europe via the Strait of 

 Belle Isle. It is effective normally from the first week in July until 

 the first week in Decemher. 



The prescribed tracks between the United States and Europe are 

 shifted southward during the spring on the advice of various steam- 

 ship masters, the international ice patrol, or the United States 

 Hydrographic Office, and in accordance with the severity of the ice 

 season. It is worth noting that the extra-southerly tracks (lane 

 route A), which are employed in severe ice years only, lengthen the 

 voyage about 50 miles more than lane route B and about 200 miles 

 more than the great circle course close under Cape Race, Newfound- 

 land. Practically all of the passenger ships now observe the letter 

 of the agreement of ])rescribed tracks and also many of the freight 

 vessels, especially those belonging to well-known lines. Many mis- 

 cellaneous freighters. " tramps," how^ever, persist even to-day in cut- 

 ting through the ice regions unnecessarily and thereby they invite 

 disaster. Shipping on the routes between Canada and Europe, dur- 

 ing the ice season, finds it impossible, of course, to avoid the ice zone, 

 and consequently those vessels run a greater danger despite the 

 exercise of much care by their officers. 



It has been remarked that if icebergs and pack ice always remained 

 within their normal limits, then nothing further would be necessary 

 to insure sufficient safety to most of the ships, but unfortunately such 

 is not the case. There have been, however, several accidents to trans- 

 Atlantic ships since the prescribed tracks have been in fon^e. Some 

 of them are : 



May 25, 1919, the })assenger steamship ('assa)i<Jra in latitude 47° 

 31' N., longitude 5U 22' W., northeast of Cape Race in a dense fog, 

 struck a berg filling her forward comj^artments with water, l)ut was 

 able to make St. Johns, Xewfoundland, unassisted. 



April 8, 1921, the steamer Castle Point was beset in pack ice on the 

 northern part of the Grand Bank. It was necessary for the ice- 

 patrol ship to go to her assistance and tow her into open water. 



June 23, 1925, the steamer Saugm^ collided with a valleytype of 

 berg, running her forefoot out on the base platform, where she 

 remained for some hours. Fortunately the damage extended only to 

 straining the vessel considerably, and there was no loss of life. 



In the spring of 1928 the passenger steamship Montrose struck an 

 iceberg while navigating in the vicinity of the northern part of the 

 Grand Bank. Tw^o of the crew were killed by many tons of ice which 

 fell on the deck, and the forecastle head of the ship was badly 

 battered in. 



July 20, 1929, the steamer Yiweva collided with a berg near the 

 Tail of the Grand Bank, badly crushing in her ])ow plates and totally 

 disabling her propeller. 



The most appalling of ice disasters occurred on the night of April 

 14—15, 1912, when the AVhite Star liner Titanic^ on her maiden 

 voyage to the United States, struck a berg in latitude 41^ 46', longi- 

 tude 50° 14' (off the Tail of the Grand Bank), and sank with the 

 loss of 1,513 lives. The toll of 300 souls early in the nineteenth 

 century preceded the adoption of trans-Atlantic lane routes; one 

 of the worst marine catastrophes of the twentieth century resulted 

 in the establishment of the international ice patrol. 



