THE LIFE-BOAT. The Journal of the Royal National Life-boat Institution. VOL. XXX. DECEMBER, 1937. No, 332. THE LIFE-BOAT FLEET Motor Life-boats, 138 :: Pulling & Sailing Life-boats, 29 LIVES RESCUED from the foundation of the Institution in 1824 to November 30th, 1937 - 65,396 Radio Telephony in Life-boats. By Engineer-Captain A. G. Bremmer, O.B.E;, R.N., Superintendent-Engineer to the Institution. WIRELESS ' has now been in use in its life-boat at sea, it does so through life-boats of the Institution for eleven the shore station. years, but the severe limits of its use, and the great difficulties of its use, in A Fifty Mile Radius. life-boats are hardly understood by The first limit on the use of wireless those who have seen the spectacular by life-boats is that there must be results of wireless in bringing help to shore stations which can communicate vessels in distress on the high seas, and with them, and the shore stations have who think that, as a matter of course, low-power transmitters. At first they all the Institution's life-boats should be had to be within fifty miles of the life- equipped with it. boat station if they were to be able The use of wireless in life-boats is to get into touch with its life-boat. solely for the purpose of keeping them Now, with more modern sets ashore in touch with the shore when they are and in the life-boats, it has been found, out at sea and are too far away for in some cases, that considerably greater visual signals to be seen. They have ranges are possible. not the duty of picking up messages Again, those who are able, with simple from vessels in distress. That duty receiving sets in their homes, to hear belongs to the shore stations, of which distant broadcasting stations without the General Post Office now has thirteen any difficulty can hardly realize the round the coasts of the British Isles. difference of taking messages in a life- There are also a number of lighthouses boat at sea, when it comes, not from a and light-vessels, offices of Harbour powerful broadcasting station working Authorities, and a few coastguard on 50 to 200 kilowatts, but from a trans- stations, which have radio-telephony mitter with a power of only a fraction sets both for transmitting and receiving. of a kilowatt, and when that message It is the shore stations which receive has to be heard in the midst of the signals of distress. These messages are noise of wind and waves and the life- passed through the coastguard to the boat's engine. The difficulties of re- life-boat stations, which act upon them. ceiving are also increased by electrical In the same way, if a life-boat station interference from the engine and by the wishes to communicate by wireless with impossibility of having on a life-boat 370 THE LIFE-BOAT. [DECEMBER, 1937. masts sufficiently high to carry really mast and aerial could be kept up for effective aerials. regular testing. This could not be done when the life-boat was hauled up into The First Experiment—1927. a boat-house and the mast had to be lowered, and without this it was not The Institution began its experiments then found possible to maintain the with wireless by installing a wireless- apparatus. They had to have cabins telegraphy receiving and transmitting to protect the delicate apparatus from set in the Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wex- the sea. Even with cabins the damp ford, cabin motor life-boat, in 1927. caused great difficulties in the first three This life-boat might be at sea for a long life-boats in which radio telephony was time standing by local fishing boats. installed, and the sets had to be refitted The purpose of the wireless was to and rebuilt. They have since proved inform her while at sea of vessels in very efficient. Such were the severe distress elsewhere. If such a message reached the life-boat station, it was limits imposed on the first use of radio telephoned across the Irish Sea to the telephony in life-boats. wireless station at Fishguard in Wales, The Problem of Housed Life-boats. and wirelessed by that station to the life-boat at sea. This station has since As other motor life-boats were built been closed, and messages for the life- which fulfilled the three necessary con- ditions they were equipped with radio boat now go by way of Land's End telephony. Up to the end of 1936 nine Radio. This is the only life-boat which more had been so equipped. One of has been equipped with wireless tele- these boats (Yarmouth, Isle of Wight) graphy. It has not been used in other was destroyed in the fire at a building life-boats, because of the necessity of yard last June, where she was re-fitting. carrying a fully certificated operator. Like the first five, these nine were all In 1929 the next step was taken when cabin life-boats lying afloat, with the the motor life-boats at Dover, Storno- exception of Cromer—a cabin boat kept way, in the Island of Lewis, and St. in a house. Peter Port, Guernsey, were equipped In 1936 experiments were carried not with wireless telegraphy, but with out with a radio-telephony set in the radio telephony, and a little later the Cromer boat, to see if, with improved motor life-boats at New Brighton, on apparatus, it could be used in a cabin the Mersey, and Barra Island, in the life-boat which did not lie afloat. Hebrides, were also equipped with it. These experiments were made with a These five life-boats had both receiving substitute aerial in the boat-house, and transmitting sets with a range of with which the apparatus could be fifty miles. tested each week. The results of this At that time the Post Office shore experiment, though not entirely satis- stations had wireless telegraphy only. factory, have been sufficiently good There were very few shore stations at to justify the Institution in deciding to all with radio telephony, and these were fit with radio telephony all cabin life- of very low power. Then, in 1931, the boats which are kept in boat-houses, Post Office equipped its shore stations provided, that is, that they are within with radio telephony of low power. fifty miles of shore wireless stations. This has added another thirteen to the The Difficulty of Protecting from the Sea. number of life-boats carrying both The six life-boats which had by this transmitting and receiving sets. These time been fitted (one with wireless have all been fitted during 1937. telegraphy and five with radio tele- phony) were the only life-boats which Experiments with Non-Cabin Life-boats. fulfilled the necessary conditions. They There remain the motor life-boats were within fifty miles of a shore signal which have not cabins. Receiving sets station, they were life-boats with built by amateurs are being tried in the cabins, and they lay afloat. Those Hythe and Hastings life-boats (both second two conditions were as necessary without cabins), and the Institution is as the first. now testing in the Aldeburgh life-boat T?hey kad to lie afloat, so that the a smaM receiving set, the radio part of DECEMBER, 1987.] THE LIFE-BOAT. 871 RECEIVING AND TRANSMITTING SETS, The Marconi R/T installation as used in life-boats By courtesy of] [Fox Photos OPERATOR AT THE TRANSMITTER. On board the Watson cabin motor life-boat at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, fitted with R/T receiving and transmitting sets of the International Marine Radio Company. 872 THE LIFE-BOAT. [DECEMBER, 1937. which has been built by the Evrizone also to test sets by Gambrell Radio Radio Company to the Institution's Communication Co., Ltd. These sets, requirements, while the arrangements instead of being bought, are now rented, for making it water-tight have been the makers undertaking to maintain designed by the Institution. There is them. Receiving sets made by Invicta no space for transmitting sets as well Radio, Ltd., are also being fitted in the non-cabin life-boats, but the to replace, where necessary, the re- chief importance of radio telephony to ceivers in the earlier sets, which had life-boats is that they shall be able to been bought outright. receiv<e messages from the shore. The present position is as follows : Of fifty-three cabin life-boats in the In- Watertight Loud-speakers. stitution's fleet, one has wireless tele- graphy for receiving and transmitting, In 1937 a number of cabin life-boats twenty-six have radio telephony for have been fitted with water-tight loud- receiving and transmitting, and another speakers on deck, so that the cabin has ten will be fitted with it during 1938. only to be used in sending messages, Five cabin life-boats now under con- and these loud-speakers will eventually struction are to be fitted with it and be used with all sets in the cabin boats. eight more which are to be laid down They are, however, too heavy and cum- during 1938. Of the motor life-boats bersome for general use in the non- which have no cabins, two are now cabin boats. fitted with amateur experimental re- The types of receiving and trans- ceiving sets and another with the mitting sets which the Institution is Institution's experimental receiving set. using in its cabin life-boats are those Upon the result of the experiments with made by the Marconi International these three sets will depend the exten- Marine Communications Co., Ltd., the sion of wireless to other motor life-boats International Marine Radio Co., Ltd., without cabins which are within range and Coastal Radio, Ltd.