Navigation is fundamental.
Every ship in the USN should do this yearly.
Advanced, hand-computed celestial navigation is a full-time job. It required both of us to be on (or near) the bridge for approximately 18 hours a day, especially during the morning and evening star fixes. Performing sight reduction by hand required approximately three to four hours per day. Navigators who aspire to conduct a similar voyage may use STELLA to avoid cumbersome hand computations.
The surface warfare junior officers and quartermasters loved this evolution. No longer able to stare at the VMS screen, they were liberated from the temptation to make micro course adjustments to keep the ship perfectly on the electronic track line. Not only did this save fuel, but it also gave the watch officers and quartermasters the freedom to enjoy being what they called “real sailors” as they toiled over a paper plot.
Patience and foresight are required. When a ship configured with GPS and VMS makes a course or speed change, there is immediate feedback. However, with these systems no longer in play, navigation teams must rely on past solutions to predict future success. For example, after plotting an evening star fix and obtaining the ship’s position, we calculated set and drift, noted how far left or right of track the ship was, then chose a course to correct our position in relation to track while compensating for observed set and drift. We were unable to obtain feedback on our decision until after our morning star fix—typically 12 hours later. Since the length of time between observations is so long, solutions must be minor and meticulously considered. For example, using the radian rule, steering 1 degree off base course for 12 hours at a speed of 16 knots results in nearly 3.5 nm left or right of track (565 yards per hour).
Most navigators and senior QMs have the training to complete a similar voyage. Any Surface Navigator/Assistant Navigator Course or QM A School graduate can perform celestial navigation using only STELLA, paper charts, and plotting sheets. However, while being trained in the competencies of the craft, many navigators and quartermasters do not practice celestial navigation regularly in the fleet. Despite the fact that since 2015 the NavDORM requires that each ship conduct a celestial navigation Day’s Work in Navigation (DWIN) daily, Mr. O’Donnell has asked more than 1,000 Surface Navigator/Assistant Navigator students if they had done one and fewer than half said they had, with most admitting that celestial navigation is the first part of their jobs they sacrifice to fulfill their administrative duties. Despite the Chief of Naval Operations’ emphasis on celestial navigation, a culture of using celestial navigation daily has yet to be embraced again in the surface fleet.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2025/january/ships-must-practice-celestial-navigation
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