33 



The Mendota met the Pont chart rain in latitude 42°55' N., longi- 

 tude 53 "OO' "W. Lt, G. Van A. Graves, ice-observation officer and 

 the observer's party reported aboard and at 2200, IMay 6, the Mendota 

 relieved the Pontchartrain as Ice Patrol vessel. Coui'se was set for 

 latitude 42°00' N., longitude 50°00' W. in order to begin a search for 

 the southernmost ice. This ice, three small bergs, was last seen on 

 May 1 in latitude 41° 59' N., longitude 48° 22' W. Moderate and fresh 

 shifting gales with rough seas made scouting impossible on May 7 

 and the Mendota hove to throughout that day and night. The next 

 day, JSIay 8, the Mendota commenced scouting at daylight to the 

 eastAvai'd along the forty-second parallel and then to the westward in 

 latitude 41°35' N. No ice was sighted this day and the Mendota 

 stopped at dark to drift for the night in latitude 41°35' N., longitude 

 49°00' W. The Mendota continued the search for the southernmost 

 ice at daybreak the next day, May 9, but at 1020 was forced to 

 abandon the attempt due to fog, rapidly mounting seas, and increas- 

 ing winds which reached gale force in the afternoon. Westerly and 

 northwesterly gales with attendant rough seas prevented all scouting 

 on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of May. 



On May 12, the Mendota scouted out the cold water, wdiich was 

 known to extend southeastward from the tail of the banks to below 

 latitude 41°00' N. (sec fig. 14), southw^ard to latitude 40°10' N., 

 and eastward to longitude 46°00' W. No ice was sighted this day, 

 and at 1955, the Mendota stopped to drift for the night. On the fore- 

 noon of the next day, May 13, the Mendota completed the search of 

 the cold water as far north as latitude 42°00' N., and sighted no ice. 

 In the last 2 days many ships had passed through the area along both 

 east and west-bound track B during daylight hours with excellent 

 visibility. The courses and positions of these vessels were carefully 

 plotted from their 4 hourly temperature reports and it was found 

 that, by assigning minimum visibility to these ships, the entire area 

 south of latitude 42°00' N., between longitudes 46°00' W. and 51°00' 

 W., had been thoroughly scouted out in the last 48 hours. It was safe 

 to conclude therefore, that no ice existed south of latitude 42°00' N, 



The Mendota could now restrict her search for the southernmost 

 ice to the cold water north of 42° N. The afternoon of May 13, 

 therefore, the Mendota searched to the eastward north of latitude 

 42°00' N. One small piece of ice was located in latitude 42°03' N., 

 longitude 48°40' W. This ice was so small as to hardly constitute a 

 menace to navigation, and would certainly not last over a day in 

 water of 44° F., in which it was found. In fact, the Mendota failed 

 to locate this ice the following morning, and it was dropped from the 

 Ice Patrol records. The next 3 days, May 14, 15, and 16, the Mendota 

 made an intensive search of the cold water north of latitude 42° N. 



