SCIENCE AND THE SEA 



In peacetime, with a calm sea, a rescuing ship has few problems 

 in recovering survivors. One merely lowers away the ship's small 

 boat, scoops the survivors from the sea and into the boat, then hoists 

 the boat along with any survivors too weak to climb back aboard 

 the ship. Unfortunately, the years of world peace are too few. 

 And, wind and sea conditions conducive to small boat launching are 

 not encountered with the frequency often desired. Thus, getting 

 a survivor aboard ship can, at times, be quite difficult. 



There is no single method or official doctrine applicable for 

 approaching survivors under all conditions. Here the judgement 

 and knowledge of the captain must be relied upon. A proven tech- 

 nique for recovering swimmers and men in life preservers, often 

 considered as standard procedure, follows: The rescuing ship is 

 positioned slightly up-wind from the survivors and allowed to drift, 

 with engines stopped, down to them. (Figure 2.) In heavy seas, the 

 weather should be kept on the quarter and the survivors on the lee 

 bow. This practice reduces rolling, thus decreasing danger to the 

 survivors as well as the rescuing personnel. If, however, a lifeboat 

 or raft is to be approached, they will drift faster than the ship and 

 the ship must, therefore, be positioned down-wind, letting the raft 

 or boat drift down upon her. This method has the advantage of 

 bringing the survivors to the ship. But, it also has various hazards 

 and disadvantages. In heavy seas, the ship will be rolling and 

 survivors must be taken aboard quickly. Additional care must be 

 taken to assure against capsizing lifeboats and crushing personnel 

 against the side of the rolling ship. 



Another successful method is for the ship to steam past the 

 survivors with a small amount of way on. As the vessel passes 

 them a heaving line with a ring buoy attached is thrown to them. 

 The ship then circles the survivors, stops, and makes the rescue. 

 The ring buoy, or similar piece of flotsam, should be painted yellow 

 or orange to make them more visible. With this method, the line 

 floats and does not require the accuracy that a standard heaving 

 Hne with a monkey fist attached does, as survivors can swim 

 to the line. 



Many times a survivor is so weakened by the cold water, or by 

 the length of time he has been battling the sea, that he is unable 

 to grasp a line passed to him. When this situation is met, a trained 

 swimmer must be put over the side with a line to secure to the sur- 

 vivor. After the line is made fast to the survivor, the swimmer 

 accompanies him back to the ship. No man should be ordered over 

 the side and into the water to assist in rescue operations unless he 

 is wearing an exposure suit and has a line attached to him from the 

 ship. Further, he should be a skilled swimmer, well versed in rescue 

 techniques. Otherwise, he may himself become a man who needs to 

 be rescued. 



In numerous survival incidents the moment of rescue has been 

 attended by various dangers. These are usually brought about by 

 underestimating sea conditions or lubberly handling. Rescuers 

 with the best of intentions failed to realize the weakness and help- 

 lessness of survivors. Thus, just as many were thanking God for 

 rescue, they suddenly faced their worst moments. Exposure and 

 dehydration are the two greatest hazards of survival at sea. These 

 two are closely followed, however, by the hazards accompanying 

 rescue. 



Survivors making shore landings have found it difficult to 

 estimate the height and force of surf. Those being picked up at sea 

 have faced equal hazards. On occasion, they have had to jump 

 overboard to avoid being hit by the rescuing ship. Others have 

 been battered and bruised trying to fend themselves off the side 

 of the ship. It is not easy to climb up a rope ladder on a small ship. 

 On a large one that is rolling in rough weather, it becomes very 

 difficult. 



Following AMVER, probably the next major item assisting in 

 SAR is the versatile helicopter. This aircraft can perform rescues 

 while hovering above the water. Or, if of the amphibious type, it 

 can land in a rough sea only a few feet from those in peril. 



On 3 January 1944, Commander Frank A. Erickson, U. S. Coast 

 Guard, climbed into the cockpit of a small Sikorsky R-5 helicopter. 

 His new and untried assignment revolutionized rescue techniques 

 and earned him the distinction of flying the first helicopter mercy 

 mission. Hampered by a severe storm. Commander Erickson flew 

 his blood plasma-loaded craft from New York to Sandy Hook, where 

 the U. S. S. TURNER had exploded. His efforts and success helped 

 save the lives of more than 100 sailors and marked the beginning of 



helicopter mercy and rescue operations. Helicopters have since 

 helped save thousands of lives. 



In answer to how far a helicopter can now fly without stopping, 

 on 6 March 1965, the U. S. Navy flew a twin-engine Sikorsky SH-3A 

 non-stop from San Diego, California to Jacksonville, Florida. To 

 commence this record-breaking flight of 1,348 miles, the helicopter 

 took off from the carrier HORNET and landed 15 hours and 52 

 minutes later on the carrier FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. The 

 U. S. Navy has assigned this type helicopter primarily to anti-sub- 

 marine warfare as combined hunter-killers. Although it averaged 

 133.3 mph on the above-mentioned flight, in February 1962, it set a 

 world speed record of 210.6 mph. 



MAN OVERBOARD 



As previously mentioned, there is no one standard rescue pro- 

 cedure, due to the many variables. If the man overboard is in sight, 

 however, a good recovery approach, and perhaps the fastest, can 

 be made using continuous full rudder in one direction. (Figure 3). 

 The stem should be swung away from the man in the water. 



The bridge is not normally aware there is a man overboard, 

 however, until the ship has passed him by. The initial turn is still 

 made toward the side to which the man fell in hopes of moving the 

 stern away. If visual contact can be maintained, a turn similar to 

 that shown in Figure 3 promises to bring him back on board in the 

 shortest time. 



Man overboard to port 

 Rudder left full 



Fjgure 3 



Start of turn Completion of turn 



ONE TURNING DIAMETER 



ORIGINAL 

 COURSE 



Man Overboard 



J Turn actually reverses here 

 \ 

 \ 



When 60° from initial course 

 shift the rudder from right full 

 to left full. 



Figure 4 



If visibility is restricted, a turn developed in 1942 by Commander 

 John A. Williamson, USNR should be considered when the "man 

 overboard" alarm is sounded. The Williamson Turn (Figure 4) not 

 only turns the stern of the ship away from the man overboard, but 

 also returns the ship to the approximate area where the man fell. 



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