A uniformed officer demonstating how to put on and wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device on the cruise liner SS Maasdam, of the Holland America Line, whilst in dock at New York, USA in 1959. Here a canvas pouch would be contain flexible waterproof cells filled with kapok. Usefully the device is numbered (here ) to assist a organisation on board ship and any rescue attempt. This device (PFD, life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is is worn to prevent drowning – a vintage 1950s photograph.
A uniformed officer demonstating how to put on and wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device on the cruise liner SS Maasdam, of the Holland America Line, whilst in dock at New York, USA in 1959. Here a canvas pouch would be contain flexible waterproof cells filled with kapok. Usefully the device is numbered (here ) to assist a organisation on board ship and any rescue attempt. The personal flotation device (PFD, life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a piece of equipment that is donned and fastened to the wearer to prevent drowning. The device will keep the wearer afloat with their head above the surface – it can even support an unconscious wearer. In 1802 Abraham Bosquet proposed issuing British Royal Navy Ships with ‘strong canvas bags of dimensions, when filled with cork shavings, equal to about that of a bed bolster, coiled in manner like a collar, and sufficiently wide for the head and shoulders to pass through.’ and by 1804 a cork life jacket was available for sale in by mail order. It was not until the personal safety of lifeboat crews heading out in pulling boats in generally bad sea conditions was addressed. The modern life jacket is generally credited to the Inspector of Lifeboats at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in the UK, Captain John Ross Ward. He created a cork vest in 1854 to be worn by lifeboat crews for both weather protection and buoyancy. Rigid cork material was supplanted by flexible, more comfortable pouches containing watertight cells filled with kapok. Kapok buoyancy was used in many navies fighting in World War II. Eventually foam supplanted kapok. This image is from an old American amateur Kodak colour transparency. It will look soft if used at too large a size – a vintage 1950s photograph.
Size: 2063px × 3248px
Location: New York, USA
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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