Flight statistics for the season are preseiited in the following table: 

 Table I —AERIAL ICE OBSERVATION STATISTICS FOR THE 1955 ICE SEASON 



Month 



February (24-28). 



March 



AprU 



May 



June --- 



July (1-15) 



Total for 1955. 



Number 

 of flights 



60 



Number of 



days on 



which 



flights 



made 



Number of 

 days good 

 observing 

 weather i 



56 



Average 

 visual 



effective- 

 ness 2 



Percent 

 90 

 56 

 75 

 61 

 36 



Maximum 

 number 



days 

 between 

 flights 



Miles 

 flown 



860 

 5,846 

 12, 534 

 16, 175 

 14, 237 

 6,861 



56, 513 



Hours 

 flown 



5.5 

 42.7 

 92.7 

 117.0 

 108.6 

 52.8 



419.3 



1 Days on which possible to search visually at least 50 percent of scouting area. 



2 Ratio of area actually searched visually to area planned to be searched. 



COMMUNICATIONS 



Commander, International Ice Patrol communicated with shipping 

 during the ice season through U. S. Coast Guard Radio Argentia 

 (NIK) and with various interested shore establishments by means of 

 the teletype net. 



At 0048 and 1248 G. M. T. daily, ice bidletins were broadcast to 

 shipping on 155, 5320 and 8502 kilocycles. Each bulletin was broad- 

 cast twice, once at 15 words per minute and a second time, after a 

 2-minute interval, at 25 words per minute. All bulletins were con- 

 cluded with a request that all shipping in the ice patrol area report to 

 NIK all ice sighted, and weather and sea temperatures every 4 hours. 

 Cooperation by shipping was very good in this regard. Merchant 

 ships worked NIK on 425, 454, 468 or 480 kilocycles or their assigned 

 frequency in the 8-megacycle band. NIK worked on 432 or 8650 

 kilocycles. 



By means of the teletype net ice bulletins were sent at 0030 and 1230 

 G. M. T. to the U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office, Washington, D. C, 

 the Canadian Department of Transport, Halifax, N. S. and the Roj^al 

 Canadian Navy Radio Station, Albro Lake, N. S. 



During the 1955 ice season NIK sent or received 12,285 radio mes- 

 sages and 11,740 landhne messages. Statistics concerning the reports 

 received during the season are as follows: 



Number of ice reports received from vessels 607 



Number of vessels furnishing ice reports 200 



Number of sea surface temperatures reported 7297 



Number of vessels furnishing sea surface temperatures 433 



Number of vessels requesting special information 59 



Number of weather reports relayed to Observer, Washington 1441 



Total number of vessels worked 490 



The percentage distribution of reporting vessels by nationahty was 

 as follows: 



