Marquette (AKA 95) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE OPERATIONS AND NAVIGATION DEPARTMENTS A ship underway is ae complex as a modern factory, and requires as much teamwork to keep its wheels oiled and its course steady. As the factory ' s daily activities are coordinated from a nerve center of junior and senior executives, so a ship underway is conned from the bridge bv the Commanding Officer and his assistants. Th ere are a number of specialists involved in the operation of a ship, some of which we have already seen. The personnel most directly responsible for the direction of a ship underway, however are the Operations and Navigation Depart- ments. Under the general heading of Operations come two relatively small but important groups, the Radiomen and the Radarmen. The former are concerned with the the constant flow of general messages, both in plain-language and in encrypted form, which come into the ship by radio. It is in Radio Central that chronological files are kept of every incoming and outgoin g message, including those handled by visual means. Here also the cryptocenter is located, where messages classified for security reasons are processed. The Combat Information Center, or CIC, is the workshop of the Radarmen, and here radar contacts, both on the surface and in the air. are picked up and plotted. It is here also that voice radio transmissions are handled under- way: such messages are later routed to Radio Central for furthur routing and filing. From both of these centers of underway activity, comes a steady flow of information to those on the bridge, enabling them to see the tactical picture earlier and more completely. A third group of personnel, and one closely integrated with the first two, is the Navigation Department. These men are responsible for the ship ' s visual signalling facilities, the flashing light, the flag hoist, and the semaphore flags. It is their job, under the Navigator, to obtain the star sights, sun lines, and visual bearings which provide the Conn with vital data on the geographical position of the ship. Also included in Operations is the ship ' s administration office and the post Office, which provide the important flow of paper work which with radio and visual signalling, keeps Marquette in touch with the rest of the Navy and with the world at large. At the engineers provide the heart, the deck force the muscle, and Supply, the fuel, Operations and Navigation contribute the eye and ears of the ship.

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