INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL 1956 



The International Ice Patrol service for 1956 was carried out 

 by the U. S. Coast Guard in accordance with the provisions of 

 the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1948, 

 and the U. S. Code, Title 46, Sections 738-738d. The mission of 

 protecting shipping from the dangers of ice drifting in the Grand 

 Banks area was accomplished by the collection of ice information 

 from all available sources and by means of twice daily radio 

 broadcasts disseminating to shipping the description of the cur- 

 rent ice situation. The scientific program dealing with the factors 

 influencing the distribution and drift of ice in the North Atlantic 

 Ocean was continued. 



The Commander, International Ice Patrol, Captain K. S. Davis, 

 USCG, had the following facilities available to him during the 

 ice season: a staff of three officers and 13 enlisted men, radio 

 and landline communication facilities and office space at Argentia, 

 Newfoundland, three reconnaissance aircraft, one patrol vessel, 

 USCGC Acushnet and an oceanographic survey vessel, USCGC 

 Evergreen. The efficiency of the aerial ice reconnaissance and the 

 distribution of ice made it unnecessary to utilize a surface patrol 

 vessel for the sixth consecutive year. 



On 5 March Commander, International Ice Patrol and staff 

 arrived at Argentia. Pre-season aerial ice reconnaissance indi- 

 cated the Grand Banks to be free of ice at that time. The first 

 of the 76 ice observation flights made during the season was 

 flown on 12 March. Radio broadcast of the twice daily ice bulle- 

 tins to shipping was commenced at 0048 GMT, 14 March. These 

 bulletins were also sent via landline to the U. S. Navy Hydro- 

 graphic Office, the Canadian Department of Transport and the 

 R.C.N. Radio Station at Albro Lake, N.S. for further dissemina- 

 tion to shipping. 



The principal sources of ice information during the ice season 

 were the ice observation flights made by International Ice Patrol 

 aircraft, reports made by commercial and military vessels and 

 aircraft, ice reconnaissance flights by the Canadian Department 

 of Transport in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and by the U. S. Navy 

 in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, and, on request, occasional 

 reports by harbormasters, harbor pilots, signal stations and 

 shipping agents. 



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