A guide to the preservation of life at sea after shipwreck / Medical Research Council, Committee on the Care of Shipwrecked Personnel.

Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A guide to the preservation of life at sea after shipwreck / Medical Research Council, Committee on the Care of Shipwrecked Personnel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ABANDONING SHIP Wireless messages and equipment _ Find out if an S.0.S. has been sent out from the ship, and if an answer has been < ~ received. _ See’ that the ship’s portable wireless transmitter and receiving set are taken into a _ boat. Remember that they can easily be damaged if dropped; therefore pass them into _ the boat; if you have to drop them, they are less likely to be damaged if dropped into _ the water, as they are buoyant and, for a time at any rate, will remain watertight. Instruments, nautical tables and charts Take your sextant and nautical tables with you in the lifeboat. Special water- proofed charts of the oceans of the world are being issued, showing details of the prevailing winds and currents like those given in the American Hydrographical Charts. If you have already had yours, take them with you. Clothing _ Take waterproof clothing (oilskins, seaman’s protective suit, anti-gas cape, or mackintosh) and gather up any extra warm clothing, blankets or Duffel coats. _ Experience has shown only too often that unnecessary suffering has been caused _ by lack of clothing when in a boat. Even in the tropics it may feel bitterly cold at night. It is better to carry too much clothing than too little, for it will protect _ you not only against the cold, but also against the sun. Do not imagine that the _ weight of this extra clothing will be a danger to you in the water. Modern lifebelts _ will support a person in the water fully dressed and wearing sea boots. Carry a - pair of dry socks in your pocket, in a waterproof package. _ Extra water ; ; Water 1s more tmportant than food; it is of such great importance that you should make every effort to take extra water with you. Improvise containers wherever _ possible: 40 gallon oil drums can be used; they are easily cleaned and sterilised by _ steam in the engine room; they should be painted white, half-filled with drinking _ water and stowed on the upper deck ready to float off or be rolled overboard. Fill and take with you water-bottles or similar containers (preferably not of glass). _ Masters who have appreciated the paramount importance of an adequate water _ supply have succeeded in improvising stowage for as much as 120 gallons per boat. _ Food You are unlikely to need more food than is stored in the lifeboat, and no extra food should be taken at the expense of extra water and extra clothing. Extra water is _ of much greater value than extra food. , Release of life-saving appliances | All life-saving appliances should be released, even if they are not needed immedi- ately. The water and stores they contain are valuable and may be picked up later. Gear should be transferred from boats which are damaged or cannot be lowered. Going Overboard If you do not get away in a boat, go over the lower side if the ship has listed. _If you go over the upper side you will be in danger of being badly hurt by barnacles _and marine growths, and of fracturing your ankles by hitting your heels against the bilge keel. When the lower side of the listed vessel happens also to be the weather side take care to avoid being washed back on board, and in this case, if possible, take. ~ _to the water from the bow or stern, whichever is the lower. Jump into the water _ feet first; do not dive. | __ If fuel oil has been discharged into the sea; you should avoid contact with it as far as possible. If you have to jump into the sea, hold your nose. If you have to ‘swim through a patch of oil, keep your head and eyes high and your mouth closed (oil on the surface makes this easier by calming the sea). If you swallow fuel oil, it
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