Iceberg Reconnaissance 

 and Communications 



During the 1985 Ice Patrol 

 year (from 1 October 1 984 

 through 30 September 1 985), 98 

 aircraft sorties were f town in 

 support of the Intemattonal Ice 

 Patrol. These included pre- 

 season flights, ice observation 

 and logistics flights during the 

 season, and post-season flights. 

 Pre-season flights detemriined 

 iceberg concentrations north of 

 48*^, necessary to estimate the 

 time when icebergs would 

 threaten the North Atlantic 

 shipping lanes in the vtoinity of 

 the Grand Banks of 

 Newfoundland. During the active 

 season, ice observation flights 

 located the southwestern, 

 southem, and southeastern limits 

 of icebergs. Logistics flights were 

 necessary due to aircraft 

 maintenance problems. Post- 

 season flights were made to 

 retrieve parts and equipment from 

 Gander and to close out all 

 business transactions from the 

 season. 



U.S. Coast Guard aircraft, 

 deployed from Coast Guard Air 

 Station Elizabeth City, North 

 Carolina, conducted all the aircraft 

 missions. SLAR-equipped HC- 



1 30 aircraft were utilized 

 exclusively for aerial ice 

 reconnaissance, and HC-130 

 and HU-25A aircraft were used on 

 logistics flights. Table 3 (left) 

 shows aircraft utilization during 

 the 1985 season. 



During the 1 984 season, 

 only 5% of the deployed days 

 were spent on the ground in 

 Gander. In 1985, this figure 

 climbed to 1 4%. After an aircraft 

 mishap in Groton 

 in March, IIP relied on a single 

 SLAR-equipped HC-1 30 for 

 much of the 1 985 season. The 

 increased use of this one aircraft 

 and its SLAR resulted in an 

 increased number of 

 maintenance problems. 



U.S. Coast Guard 

 Communications Station Boston, 

 Massachusetts, NMF/NIK, was 

 the primary rado station used for 

 the dissemination of the daily ice 

 bulletins and facsimile charts after 

 preparatbn by the Ice Patrol 

 office in Groton. Other 

 transmitting stations for the 

 OOOOZ and 1 200Z ice bulletins 

 included Canadian Coast Guard 

 Radio Station St. John'sA/ON, 



Canadian Forces Radio Station 

 Mill Cove/CFH, and U.S. Navy 

 LCMP Broadcast Stattons 

 Norfolk/NAM ; Thurso, Scotland; 

 and Keflavik, Iceland. 



Canadian Forces Station 

 Mill Cove/CFH as well as AM 

 Radio Statton Bracknell/GFE, 

 United Kingdom are 

 radtofacsimile broadcasting 

 stations which used Ice Patrol 

 limits in their broadcasts. 

 Canadian Coast Guard Radio 

 Station St. John's/ VON provided 

 special broadcasts. 



The International Ice Patrol 

 requested that all ships transrtting 

 the area of the Grand Banks 

 refxjrt ice sightings, weather, and 

 sea surface temperatures via U.S. 

 Coast Guard Communications 

 Station Boston, NMF/NIK. 

 Response to this request is 

 shown in Table 4, and Appendix 

 A lists all contributors. 

 Commander, Intemattonal Ice 

 Patrol extends a sincere thank 

 you to all stattons and ships which 

 contributed. 



Table 4. Iceberg and SST Reports 



Number of ships furnishing Sea Surface Terrperature (SST) reports 1 03 



Number of SST reports received 505 



Number of ships furnishing ice reports 497 



Number of ice reports received 673 



First Ice Bulletin 1 40000Z MAR 85 



Last Ice Bulletin 291 200Z AUG 85 



Number of fa<»im4le charts transmitted 169 



