ALCOAST 166/08
COMDTNOTE 16150
SUBJ: NINETY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST NORTH ATLANTIC ICE
PATROL
1. APRIL 3 MARKS THE NINETY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SAILING OF THE
REVENUE CUTTER SENECA FROM NEW YORK FOR THE GRAND BANKS OF
NEWFOUNDLAND TO CONDUCT THE NORTH ATLANTIC ICE PATROL, THE
FORERUNNER OF TODAYS INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL.
2. FOLLOWING THE TRAGIC LOSS OF THE RMS TITANIC IN 1912, TWO NAVY
VESSELS (BIRMINGHAM AND CHESTER) CONDUCTED PATROLS OF THE SOUTHERN
GRAND BANKS TO WARN TRANSATLANTIC SHIPPING OF THE ICEBERG DANGER.
THE REVENUE CUTTER SERVICE ASSUMED THIS IMPORTANT MISSION IN 1913
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF RCS CAPTAIN, COMMANDANT ELLSWORTH BERTHOLF.
SENECA AND MIAMI ALTERNATED PATROLS OUT OF HALIFAX FROM APRIL UNTIL
THE END OF THE ICE SEASON IN 1913.
3. IN 1914, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DIRECTED THE REVENUE
CUTTER SERVICE TO FORMALLY ESTABLISH AND CONDUCT THE INTERNATIONAL
ICE OBSERVATION AND PATROL SERVICE.  TODAY, THE NORTH ATLANTIC ICE
PATROL IS CONDUCTED BY THE USCG INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL (IIP), AN
ATLANTIC AREA UNIT WITH SEVENTEEN DEDICATED CIVILIAN, ENLISTED AND
OFFICER PERSONNEL. THE MISSION OF THE IIP IS TO MONITOR THE ICEBERG
DANGER NEAR THE GRAND BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND PROVIDE THE LIMIT
OF ALL KNOWN ICE TO THE MARITIME COMMUNITY.
4.  DESPITE MANY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES SINCE 1912, ICEBERGS REMAIN
A HAZARD TO MARINERS TODAY. PERSISTENT FOG, FREQUENT SEVERE STORMS
AND ICEBERGS PLUS THE CONCENTRATION OF TRANSATLANTIC SHIPPING,
FISHING VESSELS, AND OIL PLATFORMS MAKE THE GRAND BANKS ONE OF THE
MOST DANGEROUS AREAS IN THE WORLD FOR MARINE TRANSPORTATION.
5. DUE TO THE  VIGILANCE OF IIP PERSONNEL AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH
ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS COAST GUARD AIR STATION ELIZABETH CITY, THE
CANADIAN ICE SERVICE, AND THE NATIONAL ICE CENTER, THE IIP HAS
AMASSED AN ENVIABLE SAFETY RECORD: NOT A SINGLE VESSEL HEEDING ITS
WARNINGS HAS COLLIDED WITH AN ICEBERG.
6. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL, VISIT
WWW.USCG.MIL/LANTAREA/IIP/HOME.HTML.
7. SEMPER PARATUS.
8. RDML BRIAN M. SALERNO, ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR MARINE SAFETY,
SECURITY AND STEWARDHIP SENDS.
9. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.