Chart House

Chart House. U.S.S. North Carolina. The Chart House was the Navigator’s primary workplace. The Navigator and the Quartermasters stood at the chart table to plot the Ship’s location or future track on the charts. Following observations of celestial bodies such as the sun or stars, computations and plotting would take place on the chart table. The parallel motion protractor was used to plot lines of bearing. The Ship’s current position and future track were also maintained on a chart in the Pilot House (Bridge). , The Navigator also tracked course changes during maneuvers with the task force. It was important for the Battleship to maintain station in relation to other ships in the formation. , , Long Range Navigation (LORAN) , There were four ways to determine position in navigation: piloting, dead reckoning, celestial navigation, and LORAN. LORAN equipment was the beginning of electronic navigation at sea. It received and compared radio signals sent on the same frequency and time from two shore stations. , , In 1944, when the Battleship was stateside, the LORAN was installed. Chief Quartermaster Joe Ringhoffer was trained on the new equipment, but "it was never any use to us. The LORAN stations were so far apart in the Pacific." The Assistant Navigator found it "very inaccurate and useless" and preferred "the sextant and other stuff dating back to John Paul Jones." , , Crew Memories , I learned to type right here. My job was to assist the Navigator's yeoman. I typed the logs from the Officer of the Deck and then took it around to the officers to sign and then it became the ship's official deck log. I could type 55 words per minute. , , Don Greene, Seaman 1/c , , We had to make our own fun up here. We had a big leather couch. I got in league with the Electrician's mate and we wove a copper wire to the seat of it and put a spark coil underneath. I had a little switch under the desk and smokers would come in and louse up the atmosphere. I don't smoke, and the place was all battened down with no fresh air, so I devised a scheme to get them on their way quickly, I didn't know it would work so well. I would hit the switch and they would get about 4,000 volts through the seat of their pants. , , Commander Kemp Tilley, Navigator