NAVIGATION VERSUS THE JUNIOR NAVAL OFFICER
By Commander John Downes, U. S. N., Head of Department of Navigation, LT. S. Naval Academy
In the early summer of last year (1922) some seven hundred officers of the grades of Lieutenant, Lieutenant (j.g.) and Ensign, became eligible for promotion to the next higher grade and were given the required professional examination. The examinations were held practically simultaneously at various naval stations, on board ship, and at Washington, and were conducted by Supervisory Boards at all places except the last mentioned, and at the Mare Island Yard. This resulted in a flood of papers being received by the Naval Examining Board, quite beyond its facilities for handling them and as a result certain officers of the Naval Academy in the Departments of Navigation, Seamanship, Ordnance and Gunnery, Electrical Engineering, and Marine Engineering, were ordered to temporary additional duty to assist the Naval Examining Board in marking papers on subjects pertaining to their respective departments. In the Department of Navigation this work took nearly two months, two officers working six to seven hours a day, five and a half days a week. In all, five hundred thirty-seven papers were handled. Of these over half were those of Naval Academy graduates, the remainder being papers of former temporary officers.
It was natural to assume that the Naval Academy graduate would know more about refined navigation than the former temporary officer and such was found to be the case. The former's work was much more accurate and the plotting was much neater than that of the latter. So much of the work of both, however, was open to criticism that it is believed that the pointing out of the common errors of both will be of benefit to the younger line officers in future examinations, and in their navigational work at sea.
Before proceeding with the criticisms, however, it is desired to point out that the Department of Navigation considers as not a minor part of its Mission that it exists for the purpose of benefiting the Service at large in the science of Navigation. To this end it keeps in constant touch with the Naval Observatory, the Hydrographic Office, Coast Guard Officers, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, either through direct correspondence, personal visits, or their publications. It communicates with inventors of new navigational appliances or new methods of navigation and attempts to keep up to date in every respect, passing the information on to the midshipmen whenever the information is considered reliable and to be of benefit to them. The Department laboratory is enlarged from time to time by the receipts of new instruments or by exhibits of instruments used in days long gone. It is still far from complete, however.
A careful resume of all the papers disclosed the fact that the majority of all the officers examined were lacking in a good knowledge of the following:
- Description of, and activities of, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, The International Ice Patrol, and the Board of Steamboat Inspectors.
- The magnetic and the gyro compasses, causes of error, and correction of same. Advantages of the latter.
- Duties of the Navigator pertaining to target practice and battle, use of mooring board and Battenberg Course Indicator for battle approach.
- An understanding of Zone Time and keeping Zone Time at sea.
- Certain parts of the contents of nautical publications.
- Lack of knowledge of harbor surveying.
- Inaccuracies in "day's work."
Each of the above will be taken up in turn and the common errors made will be given. It should be borne in mind that this article is in no way intended as a criticism of the officers who were examined, nor as an expression of opinion as to their fitness as a group, but is a critique of the general knowledge of the science of Navigation among younger officers with suggestions for improvement. The idea is to "point the way" for those to be examined in the future.
Coming now to the above listed errors we will take them up individually in their numerical order.
I. Description of and activities of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the International Ice Patrol and the Board of Steamboat Inspectors.
Of the various offices that are more or less co-related with the Navy, the candidate seems to be deficient in his knowledge of the functions of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the International Ice Patrol, and the Board of Steamboat Inspectors. The first mentioned of these is by far the most important as it supplies many of our charts and most of our tidal data, together with the Sailing Directions for the United States. The second, under the Treasury Department (Coast Guard), furnishes information covering ice in or near the usual steamship routes to Europe and its duties have at time been performed by naval vessels. As the naval officer is often called on especially just before, or during war, to inspect merchant ships with a view to their being taken over by the Navy, a knowledge of the Board of Steamboat Inspectors and its requirements is necessary. The best possible available information on the subject will be found in the following paragraphs:
The purpose of the Steamboat Inspection Service is the security of life on board of vessels and the prevention of loss of vessels and of property thereon.
Inspection required. The laws governing the Service require at least one inspection each year of certain domestic merchant steam, motor, and sail vessels, and barges, by an inspector of hulls and an inspector of boilers of the Service. Foreign steam vessels carrying passengers from ports of the United States, except by countries having reciprocal inspection relations with the United States, are required to be inspected. Foreign steam vessels of countries having reciprocal inspection relations with the United States require an annual examination by inspectors of the Service.
The inspection of a vessel embraces the inspection of the hull and all equipment thereon, including life-saving appliances, fire apparatus, boilers, and machinery.
Particulars of inspection. In order that a better idea may be had of the extent of inspection and functions of the Service, some of the principal particulars of inspection are stated, as follows:
Life-saving equipment. At least one approved life preserver is required
on board for every person allowed to be carried on every inspected vessel.
As far as practicable lifeboats and life rafts are required to be carried.
Lifeboats and life rafts are required to be provided with necessary equipment,
such as oars, rowlocks, painter, and life lines. Lifeboats on ocean
vessels are, in addition, required to be provided in part with rations, fresh
water, sea anchor, with oil attachment, compass, lantern and matches, red
distress signal lights, and mast and sail. Certain ocean steam vessels are
required to carry line-carrying guns and projectiles'. Ring life buoys, some
luminous, are required to be carried on certain kinds of vessels. Vessels
are also required to be provided with fog bell, fog horn, lead and line,
running and anchor lights, and certain classes of vessels' are required to
carry deep-sea lead and line, storm oil, and be provided with bulkheads.
Fire apparatus. According to class of vessels, the following kinds of
fire apparatus are required : Steam pumps, hand pumps, fire extinguishers,
water barrels, buckets (the barrels and buckets to be kept filled with water),
axes, fire-alarm systems, water-sprinkling systems, and auxiliary lighting
systems.
Boilers and machinery. Every boiler in use on vessels under the jurisdiction
of the Steamboat Inspection Service is inspected at least once in
each year. The boiler is subjected to an internal and external examination.
At every annual inspection each boiler is subjected to a hydrostatic test in
the proportion of 150 pounds hydrostatic pressure to 100 pounds of working
pressure allowed. Boiler plate subject to tensile stress in boilers is
tested as to physical and chemical qualities' under the supervision of inspectors
of the Service. Boilers must be provided with safety valves,
steam gauges, approved fusible plugs, and other necessary valves and
fittings. The machinery and all connections' are inspected.
Dangerous articles. Certain dangerous articles, such as naptha, benzine,
and nitroglycerine, are forbidden by law to be carried as freight or
stores on steamers carrying passengers.
Counting of passengers. The number of passengers and crew that a
vessel can safely carry is, in most cases, limited by the inspectors ; and,
from time to time, the inspectors count the passengers carried to see that
the lawful limit is' not exceeded.
Licensed officers and crew. Masters, mates, pilots, and engineers of
certain classes of steam and motor vessels are required to be licensed by
officers of the Service, after having had the required experience and passing an examination. An examination in the principles of first aid is now also required for original license. A visual examination is required for masters, mates, and pilots. Masters and chief mates of certain classes of sail vessels and masters of passenger barges of over 100 gross tons, with experience qualifications, after passing an examination, and operators of motor boats are also required to be licensed. No examination is required for operators of motor boats. Lifeboat men and able seamen are certificated. Licenses may be suspended or revoked for unskillfulness, misbehavior, or negligence.
The complement of licensed officers and crew required to be carried on an inspected vessel is determined by the inspectors.
Rules for vessels passing. The Board of Supervising Inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, prescribes rules for steam and motor vessels in passing each other, and lights required to be carried by ferryboats, and by barges and canal boats when in tow of steam vessels, and by dredges, etc. The pilot rules are prescribed and published for three kinds of waters, namely: (1) Inland waters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, (2) Great Lakes and their connecting tributary waters as far east as Montreal, and (3) Rivers whose waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, and the Red River of the North.
The authority for the pilot rules for the inland waters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico is the act of Congress approved June 7. 1807, "To adopt regulations for preventing collisions upon certain harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States," as amended by various acts of Congress.
The authority for the pilot rules for the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal is the act of Congress approved February 8, 1895, as amended by the Motor Boat act of June 9, 1910.
The authority for the pilot rules for the rivers whose waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries and the Red River of the North is section 4233, Revised Statutes, as amended by various acts of Congress.
Organization. The Supervising Inspector General is the head of the Bureau of Steamboat Inspection Service. Under him are ten supervising inspectors, and under the ten supervising inspectors are forty-six boards of local inspectors, each board consisting of an inspector of hulls and an inspector of boilers. Some boards have assistant inspectors of hulls and assistant inspectors of boilers, and clerks. The local boards and supervising inspectors are located in the principal cities of the United States. The ten supervising inspectors with the Supervising Inspector General form the Board of Supervising Inspectors. The Board of Supervising Inspectors meets at least once in each year and makes regulations for the government of the Service. These regulations are published under the title of General Rules and Regulations.
The authority for the establishment of the Steamboat Inspection Service and for its various functions' is contained mainly in Title LII, Revised Statutes of the United States, and in various other Revised Statutes, and acts of Congress.
History. The Steamboat Inspection Service had its beginning in the act of Congress approved July 7, 1838, which provided for the better security of the lives of persons on board vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam. Various other acts of Congress affecting the Service have subsequently been passed. The act of Congress approved August 30, 1852, really established the Steamboat Inspection Service, and the act of Congress approved February 28, 1871, gave what is the present law upon the organization and administration of the Steamboat Inspection Service, codified in part in Title LII, Revised Statutes, and which has been amended from time to time.
Publications and Forms
Laws Governing the Steamboat Inspection Service. General Rules and Regulations Prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors, four kinds, namely: (1) Ocean and Coastwise, (2) Great Lakes, (3) Bays, Sounds, and Lakes other than the Great Lakes, and (4) Rivers.
Pilot Rules for the Inland Waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and of the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Pilot Rules for the Great Lakes and their Connecting and Tributary Waters as far East as Montreal.
Pilot Rules for the Rivers Whose Waters Flow into the Gulf of Mexico and their Tributaries, and the Red River of the North.
Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General for the year ended June 30, 1921.
Certificate of inspection for steam or motor vessel.
License for master of steam vessels.
License for chief engineer of steam vessels.
Certificate of efficiency for lifeboat man.
Certificate of service for able seaman.
2. The Magnetic and gyroscopic compasses, causes of error and correction of same. Advantages of the latter.
Officers generally had only the faintest idea of the theory of deviations. They did not know the three causes of deviation when on an even keel; the three components of deviation; the cause of additional deviation when the ship heels; the difference between the heeling magnet and the Flinders Bar; the advantage of compensating on the magnetic equator and the necessity of recompensation for change of latitude provided there is no Flinders Bar installed; used the Flinders Bar for compensating for dip; only adjusted the heeling magnet after observations in two latitudes.
Most officers seemed to have memorized the practical compensation and were able to answer the practical problems whenever they could get on the proper heading and determine the deviation. This was about half the time.
About one-third of the officers examined, understood the physical principle of the gyroscopic compass and in replying to questions on this compass were prone to emphasize mechanical features, rather than broad operating features, such as freedom from variation, use behind armor on account of freedom from local magnetic influences; more accurate steering on account of absence of oscillation, etc. Governing principles, such as the seeking of the Meridian by the axis of the gyroscope, why the axis vibrates on each side of the Meridian and must consequently be "damped," and why it is necessary to apply mechanical corrections to the instrument for change in latitude and change in speed, were not mentioned by a great many.
3. Duties of the Navigator pertaining to target practice and in battle; use of the Mooring Board and Battenberg Course Indicator for battle approach.
The Navy Regulations direct that in battle (and of course in target practice) the Navigator shall be the Ship Control Officer and shall take station in the Conning Tower or elsewhere as may be necessary to enable him to assist the Commanding Officer in handling the ship. Few officers, who have not been Navigators, realize the extreme importance of this duty and that the battle may be easily lost through failure to get the ship into the desired position in the quickest possible time. To be successful, therefore, it is essential that the navigator be thoroughly familiar with all the tools placed at his disposal for accomplishing his job and among these are the Mooring Board and the Battenberg Course Indicator. It is needless to remark that these two articles are also invaluable for another purpose—mooring, or anchoring in position—so it behooves the young officer to be thoroughly acquainted with at least one of them. There are, of course, substitutes for these, as for instance. Bray's Approach Omnimeter and Hunter's use of the Universal Drafting Machine, but the Mooring Board and the Course Indicator are the "old reliables"—approved by the Department—and with which everyone is presumed to be familiar. The recent examinations, however, disclosed this presumption to be incorrect.
4. An understanding of Zone Time and keeping Zone Time at sea.
There is little to be said regarding the shortcomings under this heading as "It's all in the book" and one has but to digest Article 1031, of the Navy Regulations, or Article 190, Navigation, 1922, to gain a complete knowledge of this subject. The chief difficulty seems to be that a great many officers were unable to determine the zone description from the known L.M.T. and Longitude.
5. Certain parts of Nautical Publications.
The knowledge of the contents of Nautical Publications on the whole was good, but there were certain particular parts of which many were inexcusably ignorant and these may be classified as follows:
- The current charts in the Tide Tables. Comment: Inability to interpret them.
- Definitions in the front of the Light Lists. Comment: Lack of fundamental knowledge.
- Ignorance of the fact that the Sunrise and Sunset Tables are made out for L.M.T., and tidal data in Standard Time.
6. Lack of knowledge of harbor surveying.
While the Navy has little general surveying to do, except in Cuba and Central America, the situation often arises where changes have been noted in small, rather unfrequented harbors and as these harbors have to be used from time to time by our small naval craft and by United States merchant ships, it becomes advisable as a matter of safety to re-survey them. Such a case came within the experience of the writer at Puerta Plata, D.R., while attached to the Nashville. It was found that the chart of this harbor was very incorrect both in the approach and at the anchorage, and that the conspicuous landmarks were not correctly plotted. A survey of this harbor was therefore directed and was completed in less than a month. It would have taken two months had the officers engaged in it not had a good knowledge of the principles involved.
7. Inaccuracies in Day's Work.
The solving of the Day's Work was, on the whole, only fair, and the plotting of the lines and fixes was miserable. The principal faults to be found were:
- In working out the "Interval to Noon" the hour angle from the a. m. dead reckoning position was used instead of the "Navigator's Position after a. m. sight" which is the position on the a.m. line-of-position known as the "Computed Point." In other words, it is the point given by the value of "a" and through which the "line of position" is drawn. This is the most accurate position obtainable from one line as it is the mean of all possible positions. Also, in performing the computation of the equation for Interval to Noon, all reference to current in longitude was omitted and consequently the answer was not correct.
- Having obtained a fix for L.A.N., failure to run it up or back for clock noon.
- Lack of accuracy.
In the practical compass problems nearly all were familiar with the methods of placing the magnets but did not know how to set the azimuth circle to get on desired magnetic heading. This is of extreme importance when compensating at sea. Ignorance was also shown in plotting the curves and in the use of them if they happened to be successfully plotted. Further, it should be definitely stated whether L.A.T., or W.T., is used in the construction.
It is believed the foregoing seven subheads list the principal errors to be found in the papers referred to. Taken as being found in each paper they would indicate that knowledge of Navigation was decidedly on the wane. Such was not the case, however, but a sufficient number were found in almost every paper to offer a serious indictment against the younger officers in regard to their knowledge of navigation and the principles involved. All naval officers of the Line except those who have dedicated their careers to engineering only, must be good navigators. They may also be good gunnery officers, or radio fiends, but they must be good navigators just as they must be good seamen.
As stated earlier in this article the Department of Navigation at the Naval Academy endeavors to keep up and put into practice the latest thought in the Art of Navigation and it seems remarkable that officers generally, especially those who at any time may have to fleet up to Navigator's duties or who may be ordered to duty as Navigator, do not keep in touch with this department and have their names put on its mailing list for practical works and examinations. These practical works and examinations are always made out according to the latest practices and would be invaluable in keeping up in Navigation; also, they are used by the Examining Board in preparing examinations for promotion. Keys (gouges) are furnished with them. Correspondence is always invited and the Department will always endeavor to furnish the latest information on any subject pertaining to Navigation. It should also be borne in mind that the Pilot Chart issued monthly contains a fund of information useful alike to the naval officer and the merchant marine.
It is hoped that the near future will see an awakened interest in this most important subject on the part of the younger officers of the Service.
The time available at the Naval Academy is too limited to do more than teach the fundamentals and it is up to the graduate to broaden his knowledge after becoming a commissioned officer. The Naval Academy aims to build a firm foundation and leaves it up to the individual to "build his house."