Marine Navigation 1 : Piloting, 1981 Fundamentals of Naval Science Series, Vol. 4

Throughout the history of warfare at sea, navigation has been an important basic determinant of victory. Occasionally, new members of the fraternity of the sea will look upon navigation as a chore to be tolerated only as long as it takes to find someone else to assume the responsibility. In my experience, such individuals never make good naval officers. Commander Hobbs has succeeded in bringing together the information and practical skills required for that individual who would take the first step down the road toward becoming a competent marine navigator. At the outset of this book, the author stresses the necessity for safe navigation, but there is another basic tenet of sea warfare that this book serves. The best weapons system man has ever devised cannot function effectively unless it knows where it is in relation to the real world, where it is in relation to the enemy, and where the enemy is in relation to the real world. Not all defeats can be attributed to this lack of information, but no victories have been won by those who did not know where they were.

1 The Art of Navigation.- 2 The Shipboard Navigation Department Organization.- Duties of the Navigator.- Relationship of the Navigator to the Command Structure.- The Navigator’s Staff.- 3 The Piloting Team.- The Navigator and His Plotter.- The Bearing Recorder.- The Bearing Taker.- The Radar Operator.- The Echo Sounder Operator.- The Piloting Team Routine.- Conclusion.- 4 The Nautical Chart.- The Terrestrial Coordinate System.- Chart Projections.- Chart Interpretation 26 Determination of Position, Distance, and Direction on a Mercator Chart.- Production of Nautical Charts.- The Chart Numbering System.- The Chart Correction System.- Summary.- 5 Navigational Publications.- Catalog of Nautical Charts, Publication No. 1-N.- NOS Nautical Chart Catalogs.- Coast Pilots.- Sailing Directions.- Fleet Guides.- Light List.- List of Lights.- Tide and Tidal Current Tables.- Pilot Charts.- Distance Between Ports, Publication No. 151.- Almanacs.- Reference Texts and Manuals.- Publication Correction System.- Summary.- 6 Visual Navigation Aids.- Characteristics of Lighted Navigation Aids.- Identifying a Navigational Light.- Computing the Visibility of a Light.- Buoys and Beacons.- The U.S. Lateral System.- The IALA Combined Cardinal and Lateral System.- Use of Buoys and Beacons During Piloting.- Summary.- 7 Navigational Instruments.- The Measurement of Direction.- Measurement of Distance.- Measurement of Speed.- Measurement of Depth.- Plotting Instruments.- Miscellaneous Instruments.- Summary.- 8 Dead Reckoning.- Determining the Fix.- Principles of the Dead Reckoning Plot.- The Running Fix.- The Estimated Position.- The Track.- Summary.- 9 Shipboard Compasses.- The Magnetic Compass.- The Gyrocompass.- Summary.- 10 Radar.- Characteristics of a Surface-Search/Navigational Radar.- The Radar Output Display.- Interpretation of a Radarscope Presentation.- Use of Radar During Piloting.- Summary.- 11 Tide.- Causes of Tide.- Types of Tides.- Tidal Reference Planes.- Predicting Height of Tide.- The Bridge Problem.- The Shoal Problem.- Effect of Unusual Meteorological Conditions.- Summary.- 12 Current.- Ocean Current.- Tidal Current.- Wind-driven Currents.- Summary.- 13 Current Sailing.- The Estimated Current Triangle.- Solving the Estimated Current Triangle.- The Estimated Position Allowing for Current.- Determining an EP from a Running Fix.- The Actual Current Triangle.- Summary.- 14 Precise Piloting and Anchoring.- Ship’s Handling Characteristics.- Use of Advance and Transfer During Piloting.- Anchoring.- Summary.- 15 Voyage Planning.- Time.- The Voyage-Planning Process.- Optimum Track Ship Routing.- Miscellaneous Considerations.- Summary.- Appendix A. Chart No. 1 285.- Appendix B. Abbreviations and Symbols Commonly Used in Piloting.