This paper, prepared by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy Department, and based on recent American experience, was originally printed on the back of the April 1958 Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is reproduced here by kind permission of the Hydrographer of the United States Navy. A less extensive treatment of the subject, to which readers may like to refer, was given by L. R. R. Foster in the Journal in 1952 (‘Some Recent Work on Polar Navigation’, 5, 12). Figs. 1–12 are reproduced from the Polar Record (8, 1956–7) by kind permission of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.

The first requisite of the embryonic ice pilot is to develop a healthy respect for the tremendous power of the ice. He must never permit the peaceful appearance of an ice-field to lull him into a false sense of security. On the other hand, he need not fear the ice, since a great deal of progress through ice can be made by a vessel in capable hands.