22 



lier port bow a berg that was in the fog. The berg scraped aft along 

 the port side and bent one of the propeller blades to such an extent 

 that the screw could not be turned over. The stem was bent and the 

 port bow stove in from the forecastle deck to well below the water 

 line. Only the forepeak tank was flooded, however, and the vessel 

 was in no danger, either immediate or prospective. Many tons of 

 ice from the berg had been forced into the forecastle through the open- 

 ings made between the plates. Fortunately, the watches were being 

 changed when the collision occurred and the bunks inside the portion 

 of the bow that was damaged were unoccupied at the time; therefore, 

 no person was injured. 



Before the Modoc departed to return to the southernmost ice the 

 master of the Vimeira had made arrangements by radio with the 

 steamship Olna for a tow to Halifax, Nova Scotia. When the patrol 

 vessel left the scene the berg that had caused the damage was still in 

 sight on the horizon to the southwest. 



The Vimeira on previous trips this year had crossed the ice-patrol 

 area well to the southward of the Grand Banks to avoid bergs. Dur- 

 ing this last trip also she received the ice-patrol broadcasts regidarly. 

 The broadcast on the evening on which the vessel struck the berg 

 reported a berg as on the 16th in 43° 51' N., 49° 15' W., and also re- 

 ported a large berg as on the 17th in 43° 35' N., 49° 14' W., which 

 the message stated, had probably drifted south-southwest. In all 

 probability these two reports were on the same berg. As bergs often 

 drift to the southward along the eastern edge of the Grand Banks at 

 the rate of about 20 miles per day, the probable latitude of the berg 

 on the 20th was 42° 40' N., and it is likely that the berg struck by 

 the Vimeira was the one that was on the 17th in 43° 35' N., 49° 14' W. 

 The master doubtless plotted the positions of all the southernmost 

 bergs reported in the broadcast and, noting an apparent clear space 

 on his chart, shaped course through it. Masters should note the date 

 of all ice reports in the broadcasts and give careful consideration to the 

 date as well as the position of reported bergs in shaping course across 

 the ice regions. To be certain of clearing all reported bergs due allow- 

 ance must be made for their possible drifts. 



On the 23d, at 7 a. m., the berg of the 17th and 18th was passed in 

 42° 10' N., 49° 30' W., still in approximately the same location as 

 on the 17th. It had decreased considerably in size since last seen. 

 By 9 a. m. a small berg about 30 feet high in 41° 49' N., 49° 20' W., 

 the southernmost known ice, was reached. As search to the southward 

 and westward for more ice proved unsuccessfid, the patrol vessel 

 returned to this berg late in the afternoon, finding it diminished to 

 about 15 feet in height. When left on the morning of the 24th it 

 was a small growler not over 3 feet high, the last trace of which must 

 have disappeared early in the afternoon. 



