Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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NAV GATION I HE PRIMARY JOB of the Navigation Department is, of course, knowing the ship's exact position at all times. This is accomplished by various means. When in sight of land, visual bearings of several objects on the land are obtained with an alidade and are plotted on a chart. Where these bearings cross is the ship's position, known as a fix , When out of sight of land, fixes are obtained by radar, loran, or celestial sights. Star sights are taken just before sunrise and immediately after sunset when it is dark enough to see the stars, but still light enough to see the horizon. The angle between the horizon and the star is measured by an instrument known as a sextant and is converted into a line of position on the surface of the earth by mathematical tables. Where three or more lines of position cross is a Hx. Sun sights and sometimes moon sights are taken at noon and several times during the morning to get a noon Hx. The ship's position is re- ported 'to the Captain at 0800, 1200 and 2000 daily except when in port. In order to get accurate fixes, charts and publications, of which we have many hundreds, must be kept corrected and up-to-date. This chore is the Quartermaster's most tedious job and requires most of his time. They also perform numerous other jobs such as assisting the Officer of the Deck and keeping the deck log, making up boat charts so that the LCDR Bragg Navlgaior Bearing 090 CDR Hardy Slnoohng fhe siars Riley, QMSN Mind your helm -Karan, QMSN On fhe EOT . V liberty boats will not go astray, taking soundings with fathometers and lead lines, tending the jack and colors and also, checking continuously the ship's '75 clocks. -i The department is composed of Quartermasters, Musicians and two yeomen. The Musicians make up the shipls band and furnish music for recreational and official purposes while the Quartermasters assist the Navigator in the safe navigation of the ship. Under the direction of Chief Musician Gertz, the band is a fine group of musicians who really know their stuff, whether it's boogie- Woogie for a dance, ruliies and flourishes on the quarterdeck, or a con- cert on the hangar deck at noontime. Our hats are off to them for having helped make this a pleasant cruise. The Navigation Department earned a unanimous well done when our home port appeared over the horizon right where 'we had left it many months before.

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Lefl' fo Righr: FRONT ROW: Gambill, CPO Hamilion, ENS McDon- ough, CDR Hardy, LTJG Weir, Division Officer: Kennison, Mielson. SECOND ROW: Holden, Gaefa, Reifinger, Riley, Kemery, Krisher. Wingerf, Brassard, Knigh+. THIRD ROW: Church, Snair, Guerfs, Ogilvie, Gilmore, Krauss, Sfeinmefz, Parks. N me ' nv g., R szk ' I X. l. rf- ,, si ll 1 l lrglll lx J l A I A J N DHVISION Riley and LTJG Wei, 1, 1 9 a COu,.se ,, K . ,J R.,r,e,,..ObeeH Q, Obermayerxlllwanlolglaf ear' T 7 Q ll?lRGl5 h b n Yah! Yah! Stand by for high speed furn .... -...,...-. Band. Lef+ fo Righh FRONT ROW: Peferson, Worrhy, Good, Kellogg, Macy, DeMees'l'er, Pregifzer, Burns, Massengale, Schmid+, CPO Ger+z. BACK ROW: Hammer, Sumpfor, Schafer, Flefcher, Obermayer, 'Mole, LeBlanc, Underlroffler, Allis.