have had to divert southward east of the strait to clear the ofTshore 

 ice. 



Only two ber^s are known to have been present in the Grand 

 Banks area south of the 48th parallel at the begrinning of the month. 

 Of these two bergs, one was 40 miles inshore of the 100-fathom 

 curve and its probable drift made it unlikely it would become a 

 menace to shipping south of the Grand Banks, but the other is 

 especially noteworthy since it is believed to have been the berg that 

 drifted southward to menace track B. No further aerial reconnais- 

 sance was practicable in the Grand Banks area until the 10th of 

 May because of adverse weather conditions. On that date a berg 

 and growler were sighted at 45°37' N., 47'^34' W. This was the only 

 ice sighted in the area south of the 48th parallel and is believed to 

 be the same berg as that which had been reported on the 2d at 

 47°26' N., 48°48' W. Further reconnaissance of the area was at- 

 tempted on the 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, and 26th of May but, with 

 the exception of a small growler sighted on the 13th at 44°50' N., 

 46°08' W., no other ice was sighted south of 48° N. Two additional 

 bergs crossed the 48th parallel in the early part of the month, but 

 apparently neither one endured long enough to drift far south of 

 that latitude. No further ice was reported in this latitude until the 

 27th when a small berg was reported at 47°54' W., about 20 miles 

 inshore in the 100-fathom curve. On the 28th a berg was reported 

 at 47°58' N., 48°25' W., and another was reported in almost that 

 same position on the 30th. Between the 28th and 31st, 6 bergs were 

 reported within 20 miles northward of 48° N. All of these are be- 

 lieved to have drifted across that parallel before the 1st of June. 

 It is estimated that a total of 11 bergs drifted south of 48° N. during 

 May. 



Northward of the Grand Banks an exceptional seaward drift of 

 bergs was noted during the latter part of May. This distribution 

 as well as the movement of the field ice seaward from the Labrador 

 coast, probably was associated with the prevalence of westerly 

 winds during the month (see fig. 13). The U. S. C. G. C. Storis on 

 May 22d reported sighting several bergs in the area from 52° N., 

 between 49° W., and 50° W., and isolated bergs were reported on 

 that date at 51°51' N., 48°00' W., 52°21' N., 49°02' W., and 53°43' 

 N., 49°37' W. 



JUNE 



On June 2d the tanker Esso Glasgow reported having sighted a 

 berg on eastbound track C. She later described the berg as being 200 

 feet long and 50 feet high and reported the water temperature in 

 the vicinity of the berg to be 48° F., but stated that the temperature 

 rose to 64° after passing the berg. The Mendota, on an observation 

 cruise in the northern part of the Grand Banks, set course for the 

 reported position, reached that vicinity on the 4th and commenced 



21 



