I sailed with a master that as a third mate sailed a lifeboat 700 miles to Georgetown after being torpedoed. A company I worked for supplied the master with a satellite phone in addition to the charger it had a car kit. The free fall lifeboats had a solar panel fitted to maintain the charge. Wiring in a 12 volt cigarette lighter plug took care of the power requirements and apart from being able to communicate the phone could also be located by the authorities. The equipment and laminated instructions and phone numbers were packed in a satchel on a hook in my office and one rating detailed to recover it and bring it to the muster point.
The period of training in a casualty department of a hospital used to be part of a ship masterâs medical course but was abandoned some time ago. It is hard enough to train junior doctors because of modern day sensibilities. Because most second mates back in my day already had a chief mates ticket and were sitting masters tickets it was normal for the second mate to be the medical officer.
I agree with most of the comments regarding the composition of first aid kits.
Always told my bride, donât stop looking for me. We have the tools today to survive if we donât drown initially.
@Dutchie can you tell me where the b/w photos at the top of this thread came from?
I cannot tell you, made no notes of the relevant sites nor did I write down or remember the Google search term. Probably something like Nort Atlantic Convoys WWII.
However what you can do is to make a reverse image search. You then get the site from which the photo originated and many more of those.
As an example for instance:
You will get amongst other sites also this one.
Hope this helps.
This particular photo is not from the North Atlantic but from the Central Pacific. These are USN attack transports enroute to landing marines on an island somewhere (perhaps Tarawa?)
Oops. Thank you!