Reserve Officers Candidate School - Rocs and Shoals Yearbook (Long Beach, CA)

Page 66 text:

3vQilArf54, A COMPASS ROSE For Navigation, training aids to clarify theories. SHOOTING THE SUN To determine the position of the ship. , I X ,ax Nfl! fir, PW- 'I NAVIGATION, OLD AND NEW Instruments to determine position at sea. There was little trouble keeping the boys inter- ested and awake for navigation because most of them realized that as line officers aboard ship the responsibility for the men and the ships of the U. S-. Navy will be theirs. ROCS were faced with some diFficult problems that took plenty of patience and a good deal of hard work to solve. But aided by understanding instructors 'fsome could still remember their days as ensign candidatesl, the science of navigating at sea took shape in their minds. Before the six weeks were over, ROC Ones and Twos alike could say they came, saw, and con- quered the art of navigation. 65

Page 65 text:

THE ART CF NAVIGATING Navigation is a practical science, and as such many training aids can be employed to clarify the theories about which the text books always talk. At the left are shown a group of ROC Ones shooting the sun with their sextants on a mock-up ship used for training purposes. Much of the time in the advanced navigation course is concerned with celestial navigation. More compli- cated plotting situations and greater knowledge of radar, loran, and other means of electronic methods gave ROCS the final touches of their foundation in navigation before re- ceiving their bars. NAVIGATION stuov HALL fl Enlightenment often came. M Comm.nde,G.d....,.....C.,m..n...,,H.,., A xg L sl 0 w '. E 0 Zigi.:-5 l'c?T? YI Q0 I' 5 ' l cz 3 4' ' ' u ' - uwgg... 64 P l

Page 67 text:

ROCS NAVIGATE USS TOLEDO Shipboard training played a very important part in the ROC training program so that the candidates would not be strangers to their tasks aboard ship after they were com- missioned. ln addition to numerous mine- sweeperslassigned, two heavy cruisers, the USS Toledo and the USS St. Paul were made available to the school for cruising in the Long Beach vicinity. On this page are pictures of ROCS aboard the USS Toledo. Above is the bridge ofthe cruiser showing the use of binoculars, a magnetic compass, and speaking tubes to the helmsman or the engine room. At the right a large group of candidates look over the situation in the, waters of the Pacific while a couple of officers help give them the right slant. Once aboard, the ship's crew acted as guides for conducted tours that covered at least twenty ditterent stations. Seeing gun turrets, the engine rooms, combat informa- tion center, etc. in operation commanded everyone's interest from dawn until dusk. A noon meal was served to ROCS in the ship's mess. For ROCS it proved that a navigator's work is never done. The meal, as well as the excellent treat- ment by the crew, was a good example of shipboard hospitality. ' The experience was invaluable. ,., gg . M ' T . ' X . -,g. Q ,g A y ff? ' , ,, v 1 ON THE BRIDGE Practical navigation. INSTRUCTION ABOARD Receiving pointers from ships' officers.