General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

5

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal casing and parts/ glass slide

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

79.5 cm

Width

N/A

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

12.6 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Atmospheric temperature measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

GM

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

New York

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

1970s; this instrument was apparently in use for 45 years (Ref. 4)

Canada

A bathytherrmograph possibly of a type used by the Meteorological Service of Canada to gather ocean temperature data. Part of a large collection of meteorological instruments acquired from the Meteorological Service of Canada (previously Atmospheric Environment Service) by the CSTM since 1967. MSC is the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating meteorological data and forecasts in Canada. It was founded in 1871 in Toronto where it is still headquartered. The MSC was originally on the University of Toronto downtown campus but moved to Downsview in 1971 on land owned by UofT. The headquarters houses laboratories, research facilities and calibration and instrument maintenance facilities (now largely contracted out).

Function

An instrument for obtaining, from a ship under way, a record of temperature against depth (strictly speaking, pressure) in the upper 300 m of the ocean.

Technical

A specialized temperature recorder for use at moderate ocean depths, consisting of a thermal element connected to a recording mechanism, within a torpedo shaped casing. The bathythermograph was lowered into the sea and retrieved by means of a wire rope and could be operated when the ship was underway at speeds up to 18 knots. The thermal element of the bathythermograph consists of a xylene-filled copper coil, which actuates a stylus through a Bourdon tube. The pressure element is a copper aneroid capsule that moves a smoked glass slide at right angles to the motion of the stylus. A double analog record is thus obtained as the BT is lowered and recovered. Once removed, the slide is placed in a magnifying viewer to be read against a depth/ temperature grid in the viewer. This type of device has generally been replaced by the expendable bathythermograph (XBT) for use up to 1800 m., in which the temperature data read by a thermistor and transferred by a fine wire to a shipboard recorder (Refs.1-2).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

label reads 'GM MFG. COMPANY/ NEW YORK 3, NY/ Cat. No. 202.A130/ Model No. #3091/ Type: 125 Meter/ Bathythermogr...' [last letters missing]

Missing

unknown - appears complete

Finish

grey painted casing tip/ copper coloured body with gold coloured sleeve/ other finishes obscured by corrosion

Decoration

N/A