Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), January 1916, p. 34

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» ON 34 THE MARINE REVIEW ORION, A STURDY a naval strategist, when he sent his tug ‘almost into the surf and passed a new line to BALaNno, taking her safe into ‘Portsmouth. The captain of the 52-year-old Unprr- WRITER, Of Boston, oldest. sea going tug the Atlantic coast, was no less plucky, but his efforts were ill-starred. The tug was towing the disabled four- mast schooner WesLtEy M. OLer up the ‘coast from Nassau to New York, when, on Dec. 9, 1902, they were caught in a terrible gale off Hatteras. Oter broke adrift, and though the tug made a des- perate attempt to regain her, she stranded on the sands close aboard, and all hands were lost. The tug was com- pelled to put to sea to save herself, and for days was also given up for lost. Such tasks as that of the 945-ton Paut Jones of New: London, largest tug afloat, will continue to inspire con- fidence. She recently left Norfolk with the heaviest tow that ever passed out of Hampton Roads. It comprised three of the largest barges yet built, loaded with 12,000 tons of coal. As ships and cargoes grow greater in response to increasing commercial de- mands, so doubtless will the tug increase in size and strength to meet greater needs. And as long as the doctrine of the good Samaritan holds on sea as on land, deep sea sailors will honor the sturdy craft and hardy crews who bring them timely aid. Oil Dispels Fog In response to a request made by the federal branch hydrographic office at New Orleans, for information con- cerning the reported possibility of dis- pelling fogs at sea by means of oil, Captain E. K. Roden, head of the nautical department of the Internation- al Correspondence Schools, Scranton, Pa., has submitted a personal experi- ence which indicates the value of this COMMERCIAL TUG practice to a fog-bound vessel. Se few years ago,” writes Captain Roden, “while engaged as chief. officer of the steamship Tyra, bound from Buenos Aires to Rosario de Santa Fe, Argeh- tine republic, we ran into a heavy fog when in the neighborhood of San Pedro, a small town situated half way between Rosario and the mouth of the Parana river. ‘The fog became so dense as to compel us to drop our anchor and. await clear weather. While at.anchor apart of the crew was en- gaged in stowing away glass demi- johns of olive oil carried on the main deck. Through careless handling two of the demijohns were broken and their contents spilled on deck, the oil running out slowly through the scup- pers on the port side. The rate of the current of the river at this point is about: three knots, and as the oil was carried aft with the current it spread, producing a glossy avenue a hundred or more feet wide down the river in the wake of our ship. At the same time the oil had a remarkable effect on the fog.. A distinct clearing in the fog bank became noticeable at January, 1916 once along that part of the river covered with the oil, and this con- tinued until the last drop of the spilled oil had passed through the scuppers. So pronounced was the clearing pro- duced by the oil that ‘grass islands’ drifting down with the current could be seen at a distance of a mile, while bunches of,grass outside the oil zone were hidden from view when only a few yards away from the ship. “Six months later the writer again had an opportunity to note the effect of oil on a fog bank. This time we were at anchor a mile outside of Mag- dalena, a resort southeast of Buenos Aires, in the mouth of the Plata. The fog was very dense and a boat was sent toward Magdalena with a dripping oil tank attached to its stern. A clear- ing was again noticed in the wake of the boat, but a strong wind blow- ing the fog across the course of the boat soon made the clearing less dis- tinct. “From this and subsequent experi- ments I have made on a small scale, it is my opinion that in calm weather good vegetable oil can be used to ad- vantage in clearing a pathway or zone through a fog bank, provided the fog is caused by the evaporation of sur- face water. With a strong wind the effect is lost, except possibly in the direction in which the wind is blowing. The effect of wind, however, may be overcome, it seems, by distributing oil over a considerable portion of the sea. “Enclosed waters like New York bay might be cleared of fog by having several distributing stations for oil and by taking advantage of tides in spread- ‘ing the oil and thus minimizing the effect of wind. “The value of oil as a preventive of fog is worth a thorough investigation, and I suggest that such an investiga- tion be undertaken under the auspices and direction of the hydrographic of- fice.” SONOMA, A TYPICAL U. S. NAVAL TUG

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