WE have, for some years past, noted from time to time the progress of the Life-boat Organizations in other coun- tries which have established a Service of this character, whether under the State or, as in our case, on a voluntary basis. In the last few years we have been fortunate in being able to present to our readers accounts of all these Services, supplied by the representatives of the respective countries themselves.

Of the fifteen other countries which have national Life-boat Services there are only four in which it is maintained by the State, namely, the United States, Denmark, Belgium and Turkey; for the paper read by Mr. Lachkevitch, Legal Adviser to the Embassy in Paris of the Union of Socialist Soviet Eepublics in Russia, at the Second International Life-boat Conference, held in Paris in June, 1928, indicates that the State Service which replaced the old voluntary Life-boat Society in Russia, after the Revolution in 1917, has now developed a kind of voluntary service, albeit under Government supervision and control.

It is, however, not clear whether the funds are provided by the State or by voluntary contributions.

The United States (State Service, 1848).

In 1916 and 1918 we gave a brief account of the United States Service, which had recently adopted a new system, under which the Coastguard operates under the Treasury Depart- ment in time of peace and as part of the Navy in time of war. In the December, 1923, issue of The Lifeboat we published a full survey of the United States Coast- guard, to which is entrusted the Life- saving Service, from the pen of Rear- Admiral W. S. Reynolds, Commandant of that Service. That article showed that the Life-saving Service grew out of a series of enactments of Congress, dating back to 1848, and leading to the in- auguration, in 1871, of a definite Life- saving system, although a separate and distinct organization for that purpose was not established until June, 1878.

It was also pointed out in that article that the duties of the United States Coastguard are extraordinarily multi- farious, embracing such different activi- ties as the destruction or removal of wrecks ; giving medical aid to American vessels engaged in deep-sea fisheries; the protection of the Customs revenue ; the enforcement of law and regulations governing anchorage of vessels; the enforcement of law regarding quarantine and neutrality; the suppression of mutinies on merchant vessels; the enforcement of law to provide for safety of life during regattas and marine parades ; the protection of game and the seal fisheries in Alaska, and the highly responsible duty of the Inter- national ice patrol in the vicinity of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.* All this in addition to rendering assistance to vessels for the saving of life and * This task was undertaken at the instance of the maritime countries and with their finan- cial co-operation as the outcome of the terrible Titanic disaster on 19th April, 1912, when over 1,500 persons lost their lives as the result of the great liner running on a submerged ice-floe.—ED. The Lifeboat.

property and '' operating as part of the Navy in time of war." It will readily be understood that, with such vast responsibilities, the United States Coastguard Service has a considerable fleet, including a number of fairly large cruisers and cutters intended for deep-sea patrol work.

As has been indicated in previous articles on the subject of the United States Life-boat Service, the fact that it is part and parcel of the Coastguard Service makes it quite impossible to ascertain the cost of the Life-boat Service itself. But the cost of the whole Coastguard Service for 1929 was £5,773,000.

THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES.

In 1924, the year of the Centenary of the Institution, Hear-Admiral Reynolds did us the honour of visiting the Institution, and the United States Coastguard was represented at the First International Life-boat Conference, held in that year, by Commander Harold D.

Hinckley. Since that date the relations between the Institution and the United States Coastguard have become much closer owing to the fact that the United States Service took a very active part in the second International Conference, which was held in Paris in 1928, when the Service was represented by Vice- Admiral Frederick C. Billard, Commandant of the United States Coastguard, Mr. Oliver M. Maxam, Chief of the Division of Operations, and District- Commander Martin W. Rasrnussen.

Following upon the Conference these officers visited Denmark, Germany, France and Holland in order to make themselves acquainted with the position of the Life-boat Service in these countries, and concluded their visit to Europe by a close inspection of some of the most prominent Stations in the United Kingdom.

In these circumstances, the Institution always looks with interest to receiving the Annual Reports of the United States Coastguard, which give a survey 9f the activities of that Service throughout the year. From the Report for 1929, which is before us, and which is signed by Rear-Admiral Billard, we notethat the Commandant is entirely satisfied with the work carried out. " The accomplishments," he writes, " along the lines of its customary humanitarian endeavour are especially gratifying and noteworthy. Its primary work in saving life and property from the perils of the sea . . . continues to show substantial gains, as is evidenced by ... a review of the record for the fiscal years 1915 to 1929 inclusive, a period of 15 years.Fiscal year.

1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 Lives saved or persons rescued from peril.

1,507 1,216 2,153 1,250 2,081 2,417 1,621 2,954 Fiscal Year.

1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Total . .

Lives saved or persons rescued from peril.

2,792 2,462 2,484 3,037 3,313 3,983 4,375 37,645 "Thus the Coastguard is able to claim " this notable achievement : lives saved or persons rescued from peril, 37,645." VALUE OF VESSELS HELPED.

The Report also claims that the value of the vessels assisted, including cargoes, was nearly £99,130,000, and states: '' This is a record to which all members of the Service can point with justifiable pride . . . and a distinguished contribution to the Life-saving annals of the world." The Report refers to " the ever-exacting, responsible, serious duties connected with the law-enforcement operations of the Service having to do with the prevention of smuggling of intoxicating liquor into the United States from the sea. These operations are but another kind of war—a war with a lawless element who seek, both covertly and openly, by all sorts of devices to violate the laws of the country. . . ." It is very interesting to note the statement that " these lawenforcement operations were not permitted, in any way, to interfere with,hamper or retard the usual normal duties of the Service in the saving of life and property." An important part of the Report deals with the very responsible duties carried out by the Coastguard in the observation of " ice and the ice patrol to promote safety at sea." This service was carried out by the Cutters Tampa and Modoc, based on Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the Coastguard Cutter Mojave as an auxiliary vessel. Another interesting activity of the Coastguard consists in the winter cruising in the season of severe weather, from 1st December to 31st March, in order to afford assistance to distressed navi- gators. No less than 12 cutters were allocated to this Service in 1929, and the Commandant refers to the Service as " always accompanied by very gratifying results " and as " one of great importance and usefulness to commerce." SEAPLANES FOR LIFE-SAVING.

A further aspect of the manifold activities of the American Coastguard has now developed in connexion with aviation. Five seaplanes were acquired by the Service in 1927, and they have been found extremely valuable in locating floating derelicts, searching for wrecked aircraft, assisting in the repair of disabled aircraft, and searching for missing vessels and boats. On 1st May, 1929, the Coastguard established the first link to the coastal checking system, designed to assist all aircraft using the coastal routes, and particularly to note the departure and arrival of aircraft making extended flights over the coastal estuaries. As the Report states : " Prior to the date named, airplanes engaging in long over-water flights made these flights generally without having cog- nisance of the existence of any agency capable of affording immediate assist- ance in case of disablement. Through the system inaugurated . . . any pilot or owner may have a plane or planes under almost continuous observation from New York to Miami, Florida, pro- vided the planes follow the coastal route, and be assured that in case of accident, prompt assistance would be rendered by the nearest Coastguard Station." It is somewhat of a shock to those accustomed to the strictly peaceful work of the British Life-boats to find the Report proceeding, quite neatly and without the flicker of an eye- lash, to emphasize the fact that nine vessels of the Coastguard, including the five new cutters, now carry five-inch guns ; but the statement is certainly convincing evidence of the fact that " this materially increases the military value of these vessels as a part of the Navy in time of national emergency." THE PERSONNEL.

Turning to the personnel, we find Jhat in June, 1929, the Coastguard consisted of 400 Officers, 73 Cadets, about 450 Warrant Officers, 400 temporary War- rant Officers, and about 11,000 enlisted men, a total of about 13,000. It is, of course, impossible without special en- quiry to make any estimate as to what proportion of this personnel is occupied solely or mainly in the Life-saving Service proper, as distinct from the ice- patrol, winter cruises and preventive services. But, with a Service provided and maintained by the State from men enlisted as Naval personnel, it is natural that a much larger number would be required than in the case of a Service like our own, where Life-boats are only placed at such Stations on the coast where a Life-boat Crew can be obtained by voluntary means from the fishermen and longshoremen who earn their liveli- hood at such places.

As our readers are aware, the number of men who form the Crews of our Life-boats amounts to about 3,000, while another 3,000 men and women are normally occupied as helpers and launchers.

THE FLEET.

The summary of the vessels belonging to the Coastguard shows that there were 21 cruising cutters of the first class—the dimensions are not given— and 15 of the second class ; 24 Coast- guard destroyers, 38 harbour cutters, 33 125-feet patrol boats, 13 100-feet patrol boats, 75 cabin picket-boats, and 32 open picket-boats. These are ex- clusive of the boats primarily intended for Life-saving purposes, although all the vessels mentioned would be regarded as available for Life-saving services while performing the duties for which they are specially designated.

The passage in the Report which has a very special interest for the Institution is, naturally, that under the heading of " Life-boats." The Commandant expresses the opinion that Stations at '" highly exposed, dangerous and strategic points . . . should have the best and ablest Life-boats that it is possible for the Government to furnish.

There should be no hesitating when it comes to Life-boats." He proceeds to refer to the example of " the older maritime countries of the world 'with coastlines no more dangerous than our own," as " a wise and prudent one.

They do not stop long to measure the cost when it comes to building a Life- boat with which their boats' crews must do battle with all seas to rescue the shipwrecked." He quotes the Prince of Wales, as President of the Royal National Life- boat Institution—" a time-honoured Service of 105 years that has given an enduring lustre to the life-saving annals of the world "—as saying that for the great purpose of saving life, " it is the aim of the Institution, as it has been for a century past, to provide for the Life-boat Crews round our 5,000 miles of coast the very best Life-boats, Boathouses and Slipways which science can devise and money can supply." There were 252 Coastguard Life- saving Stations in 1929, including 115 Motor Life-boats, 104 of which were 36 feet by 9 feet 6 inches, the others being 34 feet in length. In addition there were 165 Motor Self-bailing Surf Boats (25 feet 6 inches by 5 feet), and 260 Self-bailing Surf Boats without motive power.

France (Voluntary, with a Subsidy from the State. Established 1865).

In the June issue of The Lifeboat we gave a review of the operations of the Societe Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufrages during the past year. At the end of July our sister Society sus- tained a very serious loss in the death of its President, Vice-Admiral Touchard, who died in his eighty-seventh year.

From the obituary notice in The Times of the 26th July it appears that Admiral Touchard entered the French Naval Academy in 1860, took part in the ill- fated expedition to Mexico in support of Maximilian's claim to the throne of that country, was in Paris during the siege of 1870, and served with the Tonkin Expedition. He retired from the Navy in 1908, and was then ap- pointed Ambassador in St. Petersburg, where he remained until 1910. He had for many years been President of the Societe Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufrages, and those of us who had the privilege of attending the second Inter- national Life-Boat Conference, held in Paris in June, 1928, will remember the ability and the charm of manner with which he conducted the proceedings at this Conference, at which eighteen nations were represented. Vice- Admiral Touchard had resigned the Presidency of the French Society only a few weeks before his death, and was succeeded by Vice-Admiral Lacaze, whom we had the pleasure of welcoming with the Secretary, Commandant Le Verger, at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Dover Life-boat on the 10th July last.

Norway (Partly State, 1854; partly Voluntary, 1891).

The Norwegian Society for the Rescue of the Shipwrecked has 28 sailing ketches, each manned by a crew of four.

These ketches form a cruising fleet which keeps constant watch on the Norwegian coast in the winter. They attach themselves to the Norwegian fishing fleet, for the rescue of fishermen who are unable to reach land and to assist and take in tow fishing and other vessels in distress.

The 28 Life-boats and Life-saving Stations of the Life-boat Society in 1929 rescued 5 boats and 17 persons, and towed in and assisted into port 824 boats with 2,239 men on board, while 5 vessels with 42 men were piloted in.

Thus, in 1929, direct aid was afforded to 2,298 men. Since the first of these boats began to work in 1893, the Life- boats and Life-saving Stations have ren- dered aid to a total of 92,000 persons, oi whom 2,715 are considered as rescued.

In addition to the 28 Life-boats maintained by the Society, there are 10 Life-saving Stations provided by the State. All these are equipped with a Rocket Apparatus or Line-Throwing Gun. and three of the Stations also have Life-boats with full crews. Thus, Nor- way has at the present moment 31 Life- boats, the majority of which are, how- ever, cruising Life-boats, which carry out a constant patrol service throughout the winter.

The receipts of 1929 have gone up somewhat to £19,186 13s. as against £18,681 9s. 5d. in the previous year.

The expenses have also gone down some- what, to £19,103 5s. 2d., as compared with £19,159 Os. 8rf. in the previous year.

The Society received more last year from seamen and whalemen for the operation of the boats than in previous years. It also received contributions from fishermen, chiefly from the herring trawlers round about Haugesund and others who pay a fixed yearly contribu- tion, but less from the remaining portion of the fishing fleet. The Report states that in many parts of the country the contributions from the latter are very far from being in proportion to the benefit which the fishermen derive from the Life-boats, the demands they make on them and the resulting expenditure of the Society.

THE FIRST NORWEGIAN MOTOR LIFE-BOAT.

The Report of the thirty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Norwegian Society in- cludes the following interesting descrip- tion of the first Norwegian Life-boat to be fitted with a motor, the boat carrying in addition a full complement of sails.

The boat was built by the boat-builders, K. Christensen & Co., of Moen, near Risor, and is 53 feet long by 16 feet 5 inches broad. Colin Archer's * line-drawings * Colin Archer was a Norwegian of British parentage who designed the Norwegian sailing ketches, which are regarded as splendid Life- boats. He also designed the Japanese fishing boats.—ED. The Lifeboat.

of the Russian Life-boats have been used, but the' hull is somewhat fuller astern below water, having regard to the weight of the engine. The boat is of oak practically throughout, and is un- usually solidly built. It is copper- fastened to the waterline, with a 5-ton iron keel placed forward in order to balance the motor which is aft, and, in addition, has several tons of ballast inside.

The motor compartment is just in front of the wheel-house, which gives access to it. The motor compartment is provided with a large skylight. The companion-way to the cabin is forward of the motor compartment and runs straight down, with a door leading to the latter and to the cabin ; there are also cabins on both sides of the passage, and a spacious sail locker to port, which can also serve as a spare fo'castle, and a W.C. to starboard. The cabin equip- ment is entirely of oak, a present from the boat-builder to the Life-boat Society; the cabin is a little more spacious than in the old boats, and is made particu- larly comfortable and light, with both skylight and deck glass as on the others. It is probable, however, that the skylight will have to be covered in the winter months. The crew's quarters forward are longer than on the other boats, the watertight bulk- head being done away with and the space extended to the fo'castle. All the work is well and neatly carried out.

The motor was supplied by M.

Haldorsen & Son, Rubbestadneset, who have also shown great consideration to the Life-boat Society. It is a 2-cylinder, 2-stroke, 50/80 h.p. Wickmann engine, with two-bladed propeller which can be raised when the sails are used. The tank has a fuel capacity for 72 hours.

The exhaust passes up through the mizzen-mast, which consists of a weldless steel tube, and there is a small mast aft for the sail. All manoeuvring of the boat is effected from the wheel- house when it is well under weigh.

As the exhaust runs up so high there is no trouble from noise, and hearing is exceedingly good in the wheel- house.

Sweden (Partly State, 1855 ; partly Voluntary, 1907).

The State Service was founded in 1855, when a number of Life-boats were built, mainly on the model of the Danish boats. The Service was placed under the Pilotage Board, which established 21 Life-boat Stations, 6 of which have, however, been closed since 1907. In this year those interested in the matter, and deeply concerned at the great loss of life on the coast, decided to form a Voluntary Society, which has now become very influential, and actually supplies a. larger number of boats than the State itself. Moreover, the Swedish Society recognised that prevention was better than cure, and it has devoted a great deal of energy and a considerable part of its financial re- sources to the provision of cruising or patrol boats. Thus, in unfavourable weather conditions, a patrol service comes into being along the most dangerous part of the coast, in order to come to the help of drifting vessels which, owing to fog, may be unable to find their bearings. Of course, the Life- boats also come to the assistance of ships which are driven ashore. The Society has two large Motor Life-boats of a special type, which is a modification of the British Watson boat.

The last Annual Report of the Swedish Society shows that it has 17 Life-boats, of which 10 are Motor Life-boats; while the State provides 18 boats. It is not stated how many of the latter are Motor Life-boats.

THE HELP OP SHIPPING.

Among large contributors to the funds the Report mentions the Shipowners Company of Aldebaran—£116 15s. did.; the Mutual Land and Sea Insurance Company—£56 5s.; and the Swedish Flag Day Association—£33 15s. The last-named amount is to be funded, and the interest applied to flags on Life-boat Stations and Life-boats.

It is a special pleasure to the Board to mention the valuable assistance which has for many years been rendered by the Captains of the Swedish-America Line. By fetes, etc., on board the passenger vessels of the Line, for the benefit of the Society, considerable amounts have been received yearly.

All steamship owners in Helsinborg have undertaken to contribute for five years the amount of 25 Kr.

(£1 8s. Ifd.) per vessel over and above the so-called tonnage due, which is collected by the ships' clearing-agents in the Swedish ports. The Board expresses the hope that this self-sacrificing interest in the work of the Society may prove an effective example.

Denmark (State Service, 1852).

The Danish Life-boat Service is one of the four which are provided and maintained by the State, and it operates under the general administration of the Navy. It was established in 1852, after a very thorough inquiry into the British Service had been made by an expert.

The Annual Report for the year ending the 31st March, 1930, shows that there were 62 fully-manned Life-boat Stations and 10 Auxiliary Stations, where crews are not always maintained. Of the fully-maintained Stations, 36 have Life- boats and Rocket Apparatus, 11 are provided with Boats only, and 15 pos- sess only the Rocket Apparatus. All the Supplementary Stations are pro- vided with Pulling and Sailing Boats except those at Skagen-havn and Anholt-havn, where there are Motor Life-boats.

The Danish Service now has 16 Motor Life-boats. Two of these are 38-feet Boats with a 50-h.p. engine by the Ferry Engine Co. (late Dickson Bros, and Hutchison), one is a 38-feet Boat with a 40-h.p. Tylor engine, the rest are smaller Boats, ranging from 34 feet to 30 feet in length.

Thirty-eight lives were rescued in the year under review, 18 by Life-boats and 20 by the Rocket Apparatus. The total number of lives rescued since the estab- lishment of the Service in 1852 amounts to 10,974.

It is hoped to publish in the next number of The Lifeboat summaries of the Reports of the Dutch, German, Belgian and Spanish Services, for which, unfortunately, there is not room in the present issue..