THE NEW SHIP 



The deep set recorded the depths on iodised paper, and clear 

 recordings were obtained to a depth of 1200 fathoms. These 

 soundings were checked by the 'Lucas' wire sounding machine, 

 which employs piano wire on which a sounding lead can be 

 lowered to the greatest depths and can be recovered by the 

 steam engine which forms a part of the machine. 



The first half of the surveying season was then spent off the 

 green, rock-bound coast of Aberdeenshire, charting the Buchan 

 Deep, and later in the turbulent waters of the Fair Isle Channel 

 assisting oceanographers to measure the flow of water from the 

 Atlantic into the North Sea. It was an uneventful period, but it 

 served as a 'shake-down' cruise, as they say in the Navy, when 

 officers and men appointed to a new ship become familiar with her 

 and her equipment ; for every ship is an individual to be studied 

 and humoured by her company before she will give of her best. 



In June Challenger was ordered to the coast of Labrador. 

 Labrador was administered by the Colonial Office and thus the 

 charting of her coastline was the responsibility of the Hydro- 

 grapher. It was generally desired at this time to open up a coastal 

 route among the labyrinth of uncharted isles and rocks which 

 endangered the navigation of mail steamers and other vessels 

 trading in the north, and which thus formed a barrier against the 

 development of this rugged country. 



At Portsmouth, Commander A. G, N. Wyatt took over the 

 command of Challenger from Captain Jackson on Monday, 13th 

 June, 1932, and preparations went forward in earnest for the 

 forthcoming survey in Labrador; on Friday, 24th June, the ship 

 sailed for St. Johns, Newfoundland. 



The surface of the ocean is constantly in motion, with many 

 great current rivers flowing along their established courses, such 

 as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, the Kuro Shio in the North 

 Pacific and the Humboldt Current in the South Pacific which 

 carried the Kon-Tiki voyagers on their way. The British seaman 

 Dampier was the first man to carry out a comprehensive study of 

 these ocean currents and they are still being mapped today. Their 

 speeds and directions can be shown on ocean charts, but beneath 

 the surface lies a complex system of currents, always moving, 

 with waters of different temperatures and salinities ; a system to 



