Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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this? , pointing to a slowly moving circle of light on a transluscent table. That, our guide replied, swelling up with importance, is the bug. We all nodded wisely. So thafs what it was! Uh, the meek looking trainee hesitated. Yes, our instructor eagerly promoted him. What is CIC for? , he asked with childlike simplicity. The function of CIC, our informant recited impressively, is to collect, display, evaluate, disseminate, advise, and control? An awkward pause followed. We were duly impressed. Any questions? our instructor asked confidently. The silence was unbroken. Very well, he stated magnanimously. The class is secured. Navigation, from whence the Navy got its name, is the science of knowing exactly where we are going and finding out where we are when we wind up somewhere else. Up forward in the Warrant Officer's Mess we spent a full week learning the intricacies of the navigation business. We worked with dividers, protractors, and not--so-parallel rulers finding the theoretical position of a hypothetical ship on an imaginary course at some arbitrary tirne. After a series of enlightening films we were convinced that the sun revolves in a circle around the earth. The practical applications of navigation were discovered at four-thirty in the morning when, twenty-four sextant in hand, we climbed to the signal bridge and shot stars. The whole idea was to find the star we wanted in the place we wanted it, or some reasonable facsimile. They all looked the same at 0430 anyway. The sextant gave the possible elevation of the probable star in con- sideration, which when checked through a series of doubtful calculations showed us whether we were before or behind ourselves. After we had undergone all this hearty in- struction we had to pass a final examination based on material we surely knew by this time. We were assured of passing easily if we paid attention in class. Everyone is suddenly wor- ried. Given the course of a ship whose captain is three feet tall located in the eighth latitude above 720 Fahrenheit, we must find the speed of sunrise and the temperature of the Executive OHicer's shower. With the test completed and navigation safely a thing of the past, we decide that we didn't really want to go USN in the first place. In our week of instruction in the C 8: R de- partment we acquired still more of those in- tangible little qualities which are so essential to the good officer. Indispensable information which was overlooked in our formal training, 'gknowledge never learned of schools, was then revealed before our wondering eyes. The exact science of opening and closing a vise, the most practical stroke in scraping paint, the complex inter-locking grip used on a hammer-all these fine arts were explained with meticulous care. Here, too, we Hrst became acquainted with the traffic rules of the high seas, The Rules of the Road. Many of the more naive student

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boriously practiced fscraping, scrubbing, not to mention loading the gunsj . This is the Combat Information Centerf' explained the ensign fshipis company, of coursej as he led us into a dimly lit room, spotted here and there by a bewildering dis- play of illuminated dials. We stood around awkwardly, shifting our weight uneasily from one foot to the other. KNOW, when a skunk or a bogey, he con- tinued, is picked up on the SG, SK, or SP, we can find its course and speed by applying the three minute rule on the DRT. Oh!',, someone gasped in amazement. Encouraged by such rapt attention our in- structor strode to the other side of the room. And this, he patiently continued, is the air plotf' An embarassing silence followed as each of us tried to think of some half-way intelligent question to ask. Finally, in desperation, some- one inquired with affected interest, What is K I -l,g, 137' www?

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officers learned with disappointment that a red light displayed aboard ship had quite a different meaning than our experiences ashore had led us to expect. Our weary heads were filled with still more mental notes, such as red over white, fishing at nightf' and white over red, pilot ahead. The rules themselves we found to be comparatively simple, but the exceptions to those rules proved to be an endless source of frustration. Many usually diligent students were overheard fervently praying that they might never have to navigate on the Red River of the North, which seems to be gov- erned solely by the exceptions. As seems to be the policy of every depart- ment, everything that was not covered in our instruction periods was fully covered on the test. Most of us felt that we were fully as sorry to leave C 81 R as C gl R was to see us leave. Gentlemen, the function of Naval Com- munications is to provide-er-ah-welL it is all contained in the book called Communications Instructions, Anything you want to know is in this book and you are not supposed to memorize it. That was our introduction to Naval Communications as taught during our memorable cruise. Each squad was assigned to communications for one week, and during that period, we learned all there was to know about Naval Communications as taught by Slover, Stone and Sirap fParis spelled backwarddstrictly for ef- fectj. All phases of communications from sig- nalling to the proper form of letters was cov- ered. It might seem to the observant reader that this is an impossibility. Take it from those who have successfully fanother question mark twenty-five