<p>Since the technology on my boat was 1950's-vintage, I consider it safe to describe it as such:</p>
<p>We utilized a system called SINS (Ship's Inertial Navigation System). It was an extremely sensitive system that used a series of gyroscopes to literally FEEL which way the boat was moving and how fast, and to then plot our position from it. That system was suplemented by electronic navigation systems (LORAN, OMEGA, etc.) from which we could pull signals from during PD events, and by our ability to shoot celestial fixes from the periscope.</p>
<p>The details of how submarines plotted their positions and navigated were highly classified. You couldn't go near the QM station in Control unless you were cleared. The entire Navigation center was locked down tight. The reason for this was simple: The ability for a submarine (particularly a boomer like the one I was on) to hit its targets is directly dependant upon its knowing where it is in the world when it launches its weapons. The higher your fix accuracy, the better your POI CEP (Point Of Impact Circular Error Probable).</p>
<p>Fascinating machines, submarines. Far more complex than even carriers. Heaven only knows what they use these days. In my day, the new Tridents were looked at like the starship Enterprise, and that was 20 years ago.</p>
<p>Do mids still have to study celestial nav? Whoo, that was the bane of my existance. With LORAN, nobody could see the point of star charts and such, but the instructors insisted we all had to know it in case the Russians blew all our nav satellites out of the sky.</p>
<p>Yeah! I don't suppose there's an electronic way to replace Mo board, the other bane of my existence? :)</p>
<p>btw, mo board or maneuvering board is "A polar coordinate plotting sheet devised to facilitate solution of problems involving relative movement of naval vessels" (answers.com). It's that plexiglass thingie you see in the movies where the sailor writes ships' positions with a grease pencil. Z knows waaaaay more about it than I do, him being a 'shoe and all :)</p>
<p>I started my life in the Navy as a Quartermaster. I found out last year they don't even have that Rate anymore:mad: I don't mind being ancient but when you become obsolete, that hurts!</p>
<p>Through my lurking around the message boards, I would like to interject a bit into here:</p>
<p>As a midshipman at the wonderful institution known as hel... Kings Point, I would like to say that we are still required to learn, be tested on and use Cel Nav (upcoming I have 20 star fixes, 20 noon postions, 30 azimuths and 10 amplitudes), as well as Terr Nav (upcoming 3 hours of taking fixes and plotting) and (almost) everything related to E-Nav. Personally, I find Cel Nav fun, and in answer to subvets question all ships are required (technically) to have a sextant on board. And, we do not just have to worry about Satellites being blown up for GPS and what not, but just an atomic clock going out in one of the satellites, as shown a few years ago when half the world went GPS blind because of one satellite.
As a side note, I would like to say that studying Cel Nav before E Nav makes a bunch of the theory behind E Nav a lot easier.
And just out of curiosity, how much E Nav do you guys learn? WE've learned the history of all the non-classifed systems (i.e. everything outside of VLF and EHF frequencies) how gyros work, radar, its theory, how to use it without ARPA... all that fun grease-pencil stuff, as well as how to use Loran, GPS, ECDIS, and AIS.
Also, small side question for any SWO's... how do you check your gyro's accuracy without Cel Nav... azimuths and amplitudes are used daily on merchant ships.</p>
<p>USMMA Mid: After reading your post I am getting the feeling you/we don't have chronometers aboard either. As in "Capt. 12 noon, chronometers wound and compared" :confused:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Heaven only knows what they use these days. In my day, the new Tridents were looked at like the starship Enterprise, and that was 20 years ago.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A buddy of mine was the XO on the second Seawolf Class sub USS Connecticut (he's now skipper of a fast boat our of Pearl) and he took me for a tour. It was pretty amazing. The thing I remember most were the touch screen weapons loaders and the fact that at flank speed it is quieter than a Los Angeles Class sitting at a dock doing nothing.</p>
<p>Nope, we have chronometers as well, they are typically checked once a day for error, very useful for finding out exact GMT when you are trying to do accurate pinwheel fixes. (Trying being the key word). One of the benefits of not being on a Navy ship is that you don't have to say and copy every order given (except rudder commands, thats a given). Makes the bridge a lot quieter for us to listen to music or for those Filipino monkeys that come over the VHF every so often.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Shoe" as in Black Shoe (Surface Fleet) and Brown Shoe (zoomies).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Nursey, </p>
<p>While wearing Khaki uniforms (which is usually the uniform of the day), pilots wear brown shoes. The rest of the Navy wears black.</p>
<p>I cannot fathom a Navy vessel not having a chronometer and sextant (more than one of each, for that matter), aboard. I won't believe it until I see it, and even then I'll think it's nuts.</p>
<p>A Days Work in Cellestial Nav is always a hoot to do. Sadly, I remember none of it. :(</p>
<p>I'm Filipino. Adding "Filipino" to "monkeys" did nothing but introduce an unnecessary racial comment (there is no species of monkey known as a "Filipino monkey"- you could've just said monkey and your point would've still been made). Please consider how your post might affect others before you post next time.</p>
<p>It's just one of those things. Pilots have always worn brown shoes. It's along the same lines that only they wear leather bomber jackets in uniform.</p>
<p>I was not making a racial comment, Filipino monkeys are "conversations" that go on out at sea...
At night, you'll get someone to come over the Radio and say something to the effect of: "Filipino Monkey, Filipino Monkey, this is banana port control, over"
Which will immediatly be followed by someone else (presumably a Filipino) cursing in 5 different languages for a couple of minutes. And than the first guy will come back in and swear in probably 5 more languages, and it goes back and forth. You will occasionally get three or four guys to join in. It is quite funny.</p>