To save the lives of her merchant sea- men who may be shipwrecked by enemy action, Britain has introduced a new raft that may be launched with either side up. If the ship is struck by a torpedo, an automatic launching device catapults the raft into the sea invented by R. S. Chipchase, head of a firm in South Shields, England, the life raft-carries a sail, oars and a stock of food, water and other provisions.