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Fog Navigating Camera Used On Liner Manhattan seafarer, which is charged with responsibility for three out of every four ship casualties, is being as- sailed by science from an entirely new angle in a device which, after test on several voyages, has now found a place on the navigating bridge of the S. S. MANHATTAN as a regular fea- ture in the elaborate safety equip- ment of that most modern of Amer- ica’s liners. This new device, the invention of Capt, Flavel M. Williams, U.S. N. R., and known as the fog navigating camera, utilizes the infra-red rays, those light rays having a wave length beyond the range of human vision, to record fog-hidden objects on a specially-sensitized film in a record which does not differ mate- rially from that made by visible light on ordinary photographic film, exposed in the usual manner, Within a single self-contained unit, the Williams camera photographs, de- velops and ‘‘fixes’’ the film. F OG, that deadliest enemy of the Description of Fog Camera Physically, the fog navigating camera is a longish duralumin box, designed for mounting on a tripod so that it may be sighted in any di- rection, and the relative bearing of the picture taken may be read from an azimuth circle installed on the top of the tripod or a true bearing may be read from a compass which can be attached to the camera, This duralumin case compactly houses a lens, a shutter arrangement, a hold- er for infra-red sensitive film, and a developing and fixing compartment. The film, especially produced by the Eastman Kodak Co. of Rochester, N. Y., is a continuous strip coated with a special infra-red emulsion, and the film is exposed through a special Schneider apochromatic color- corrected lens between the element of which an infra-red ray filter is inserted. The exposed portion of the film strip is immersed in a concen- trated developing bath for 30 sec- onds, during which time another ex- posure has been made on the second frame of the film strip. The first frame is moved, by means of a knob, from the developing bath to a fixing bath of ‘‘hypo’’ and the operator may then view the ‘fixed’ negative which he exposed only thirty seconds before. Not only does the navigator in- crease his vision by several times over the actual range of the eye in fog or haze, but it is also possible for him to determine the correct bearing of the objects appearing on the viewed negative by means of a photo- graphic scale fixing their positions in relation to the heading of the vessel. By taking two. successive photo- graphs, he may also determine the speed and course and approximate distance from his ship of all those objects appearing on the negative, as well as the true bearings of all stationary objects. Visibility Greatly Increased With the Williams camera in- stalled on the bridge, the navigator may see exposures made at such in- tervals as conditions demand, enabl- ing him to proceed safely through haze and dense fog which, ordinar- ily, would call for greatly reduced speed or might even necessitate drop- ping anchor and standing by for clear weather, Repeated tests have shown that when the visibility to the Fog navigating camera, housing open. Infra-red sensitive film used. Viewi i ° : 2h Ee . Viewin 2 ror and compartments for developing and fixing bath oi ed 52 MARINE REview—April, 1934 naked eye was only 400 feet, nega- tives taken with the fog camera re- vealed objects a quarter of a mile and more distant, In fact, the Man- hattan’s staff photographer took one negative with the fog camera that showed the Atlantic Highlands six miles away, although the coast line, obscured by haze, was not visible to the eye or to the ordinary camera. Capt, A. B. Randall, master of the Manhattan and commodore of the United States lines, who has had this initial installation of the fog navigat- ing camera constantly under his eye, does not hesitate to pronounce it “the greatest boon to navigation since radio’ as he matter-of-factly displays pair after pair of photo- graphs showing ‘‘no visibility’ with the ordinary camera while the fog camera, with simultaneous exposures, clearly shows dangerous’ obstruc- tions ahead, A prize pair of these films shows a perfect picture of a “nea soup’ fog—a blurry blank— made with panchromatic film in an ordinary camera, while a fog camera negative, snapped at the same mom- ent, pierced a thousand feet of al- most impenetrable harbor vapor to disclose a vessel ahead. Economic and Safety Features Obviously, the perfecting of such a device as the fog navigating camera will extend great economic benefits to shipping as well as af- ford new high levels of protection for life and property at sea. The mas- ter of one favored ocean liner in the transatlantic trade estimates that a day’s delay to his vessel, occasioned by fog, costs his owners about $7000. Another master cites an in- stance in his own experience when his ship, laden with perishable cargo, was so delayed in reaching port by fog conditions that the cargo was ruined; shippers successfully prose- cuted suits against his company which involved verdicts of over $250,000. Capt. Flavel M. Williams, the in- ventor and patentee of the fog navi- gating camera, is a physicist who has devoted many years of research to those areas of electromagnetic waves beyond the visible spectrum and with this he combines a thorough practical knowledge of seamanship. After 13 years in the United States navy, he resigned with the rank of lieutenant commander and now holds that rank in the naval reserve. He was in command of the armed guard aboard the Antilles until she was torpedoed and was then appointed radio inspector for the Allied governments at St, Na- zaire, Following the War, he was em- ployed by the General Electric Co. in Paris as a research engineer, direct- ing a staff of 800 research men. He received the degree of electrical en- gineer from the Ecole Superieure d’- Electricite in Paris. Four Years of Experimenting In 1931, he was appointed by the United States navy department to (Continued on Page 54)