Attention in the Pilot House. This is LCDR Stringer. I have the Conn.

It's been a while since I've had a chance to write. Between web access problems and a very busy schedule, the writing (on the blog, anyway) just didn't happen. My focus, instead, has been on awards and evals lately. My schedule has been about as boat-like as it can get. I flew till 2am on Wed night, then stayed up and wrote awards until about 5am. Somehow in the following 24 hours I got a little sleep and woke up at 5am this morning to head up to the Bridge on the O-9 level to conn the ship during a RAS. It was my first time on the Conn of the carrier. The command structure on the bridge of a ship is a unique arrangement, which on the surface looks as convoluted and wasteful as possible. Well, some of that may be true. Nevertheless, it is grounded in hundreds of years of naval tradition and procedure, and does have some value when it comes to combat efficiency. Here's how it works: At the top of the feeding chain of course is the Captain/Skipper/Commanding Officer (whatever he likes to be called). He spends the majority of his time on the bridge, but is not always there. During high risk evolutions like transits through restricted waters or replenishment alongside, he is much more likely to be there. In his absence (and even when he's there) another officer serves as the "Command Duty Officer (Underway)" who acts as the CO's direct representative for the safe and efficient operation and navigation of the ship. That's the qual I'm working on.

Next down the chain is the Officer of the Deck. The OOD is responsible for leadership of the rest of the navigation team on the bridge. He's primarily responsible for driving the ship, deciding when to turn, how fast to go, for not running into other ships or running aground, and for ensuring the ship is prepared for flight operations. It's a busy job that takes several months for junior officers to qualify in. Fortunately, only junior officers assigned to the ship stand this watch. Our squadron JO's have their own quals and watches to worry about (OOD of a ship is kind of the SWO equivalent to HAC of an aircraft). Working for the OOD is the Conning Officer and one or more Junior OOD's (who are in training). The Conning Officer is responsible for direction the specific actions of the Helmsman and Lee Helmsman (to be explained shortly). The OOD gives the Conning Officer a general (or perhaps very specific) idea of where to drive the ship, and the Conning Officer issues scripted verbal commands to direct the guys with their hands "on the wheel". Sort of. Next in line are the helmsman and lee helmsman. The helmsman literally holds a wheel in his hands. It's like a small steering wheel and he stands in front of a large digital display showing the ship's heading, winds, rudder deflection, engine settings, and many other pieces of information. The helmsman receives commands from the Conn, then turns the rudders appropriately to achieve the desired rudder deflection for an extended turn or to adjust to a new course to steer the ship. It goes something like this…

Let's say the ship is steaming north, on a course of 010. The conning officer might say "Right 5 degrees rudder. Steer Course 060." The helmsman will immediately reply "Right 5 degrees rudder, steer course 060, aye". Next he'll call "Sir, my rudder is right 5 degrees passing 020 degrees to the right." The Conning Officer will reply "Very well." The helmsman will continue to call out headings unless the Conn says "Belay your headings". Finally, as the ship steadies on the new desired course, the Helmsman will report "Sir, steady on course 060", which will again be acknowledged by "Very well." It's all very structured and precise.

The other person who receives orders from the Conn is the Lee Helmsman. The Lee Helmsman transmits engine orders from the Conn down to the Engineering Officer of the Watch in Central Control (where I visited last week). It's down in Central where the actual inputs to the steam turbines are made, which make the propeller shafts turn faster or slower to increase or decrease the speed of the ship. The Lee Helmsman inputs the command into a computer, the EOOW replies via the computer to acknowledge the command, then starts making the changes to whatever it is they do down there.

Let's review. The CO sets general guidance on what the ship is to accomplish. The CDO(U) oversees that guidance in the CO's absence. The OOD is responsible for enacting the guidance. The Conning Officer interprets the guidance into specific commands to drive the ship. The Helm and Lee Helm transmit those commands to the control surfaces of the ship, to direct it's course and speed. All to accomplish the same thing that a fisherman can do with his eye on the horizon and a single hand on the twist-grip throttle-tiller of an outboard motor in his Boston Whaler. This is no Boston Whaler.

Conning alongside was pretty simple, actually. The two ships were already steaming in close formation, with lines attached and tensioned, course and speed pretty much stable. My goal was to maintain the distance between the ships to within an error of +/- 10 feet and to keep fore and aft relative motion at an absolute minimum. The CO is looking over one shoulder and the Navigator or actual CDO are looking over the other shoulder, both whispering guidance on what to do next. They're not going to let an airwing bubba scratch the paint on these ships. Actually it was surprisingly relaxed up there. I did my 20 minutes on the conn, managed not to flub any commands or reports, and go the check in the block for the PQS. Once again, it was actually pretty interesting. I'm not saying I'd like to do it for a living, but it was worth the price of admission. I guess that's debatable.