INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL, 1975 



The 1975 International Ice Patrol Service in 

 the North Atlantic Ocean was conducted by the 

 United States Coast Guard under the provisions 

 of Title 46, United States Code, Sections 738, 

 738a through 738d, and the International Con- 

 vention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960, Regu- 

 lations 5 through 8. The International Ice Patrol 

 is a service for observing and disseminating in- 

 formation on ice conditions in the Grand Banks 

 Region of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. During 

 the ice season, the southeastern, southern and 

 southwestern limits of the regions of icebergs in 

 the vicinity of the Grand Banks of Newfound- 

 land are guarded for the purpose of informing 

 passing ships of the extent of this dangerous 

 region. The International Ice Patrol also studies 

 ice conditions in general with emphasis on the 

 formation, drift and deterioration of icebergs, 

 and assists ships and personnel requiring aid 

 within the limits of operation of the Ice Patrol 

 forces. 



The International Ice Patrol is directed from 

 the Ice Patrol Office located at the U.S. Coast 

 Guard Base, Governors Island, New York. The 

 Office gathers ice and environmental data from a 

 variety of sources, maintains an ice plot, forecasts 

 ice conditions, prepares the twice-daily Ice Bul- 

 letin, replies to requests for special ice informa- 

 tion, and executes operational control of the 

 Aerial Ice Reconnaissance Detachment, the Ice 

 Patrol oceanographic cutter, and the Surface 

 Patrol cutter when assigned. 



Vice Admiral William F. REA, U.S. Coast 

 Guard, was Commander, International Ice Patrol. 

 Commander Albert D. SUPER, U.S. Coast 

 Guard, was directly responsible for the manage- 

 ment of the Patrol. 



Preseason Ice Patrol northern reconnaissance 

 missions were made in January and February, 

 1975 to assess the potential for season severity 

 and locate the southern most icebergs. For the 

 second consecutive year, Ice Patrol utilized St. 

 John's, Newfoundland for its base of operations. 

 The. Aerial Ice Reconnaissance Detachment de- 



ployed to St. John's on March 17 and returned 

 to the United States on June 23, 1975. 



The 1975 Ice Season officially commenced at 

 0000 GMT, March 4, when the first Ice Bulletin 

 was issued, and continued until the final bulletin 

 was issued at 0000 GMT, June 24, 1975. The 

 twice-daily Ice Bulletins were broadcast by the 

 International Ice Patrol Communications Station 

 Boston/NIK, U.S. Naval Radio Station Norfolk/ 

 NAM, Canadian Maritime Command Radio Sta- 

 tion Mill Cove/CFH, and Canadian Coastal 

 Radio Station at St. John's/VON. A facsimile 

 ice chart was broadcast from Boston once each 

 day. Iceberg information was also included on 

 the regularly scheduled radio facsimile broad- 

 casts of Naval Radio Norfolk/NFAX, CAN- 

 MARCOM/CFH, Radio Bracknell/GFE, Radio 

 Hamburg/DGC and Radio Quickborn/DGN. 



The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter EVERGREEN, 

 Commanded by Commander Martin J. MOYNI- 

 HAN, U.S. Coast Guard, conducted oceano- 

 graphic and research cruises for the Ice Patrol 

 from April 2 to 29 and May 20 to July 10, 1975. 

 During these cruises EVERGREEN obtained 

 oceanographic data along Ice Patrol standard 

 sections to provide operational ocean current in- 

 formation, conducted iceberg drift studies, and 

 deployed oceanographic current meters. The 

 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SHERMAN, Com- 

 manded by Captain James P. RANDLE, U.S. 

 Coast Guard, deployed from June 7 to 25, 1975 

 and joined EVERGREEN for research studies 

 of iceberg drift and deterioration. The Ice 

 Reconnaissance Detachment participated in this 

 phase by locating suitable icebergs for the studies 

 and, on one occasion, dropped ice penetrometers 

 into an iceberg to evaluate this method of affixing 

 an instrument package or beacon to an iceberg. 

 During this second cruise EVERGREEN also 

 conducted two intensive oceanographic surveys to 

 provide data for a Labrador Current model 

 under development. 



A surface patrol was not required this season. 



During the 1975 Season an estimated 101 ice- 

 bergs drifted south of 48°N. 



