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Senior Crew
Posts: 183
| Subject: Time zone changes
Just recently returned from trip to Italy...Going both ways felt the effects of rapidly dealing time zone changes, and the question arose, how did we deal with time zone changes in the boats. Made several WestPacs, but can not remember the details of time change, other than the patrol we had two New Years Eves crossing the date line. So what did we do??? shorter/longer watches??? |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 619
| Subject: RE: Time zone changes
As far as I know nukes underway are always on Zulu time. From my experience on the diesel boats I was on we kept local time local time since you didn't change time zones that fast and meal times were set by local time of day, i. e. midrats always went down when it was dark outside.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
From addled memory, Nuke was on Mean time, and never shifted. I guess no Midrats at certain times of the year if you were far enough North to upset the Swedes. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 715
Location: Conway, NH | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Every trip I made (7 WesPacs) was different. One trip we operated with a battle group that changed to local time as it entered each new time zone. Other trips we changed every few days. One trip we departed and changed to the time of our destination; that made knowing when sunset etc. screwy until we we close to where we were going. We never went to Zulu.
On one op we used some other time than the local. The plan was that low activity during watch change; it didn't work out that way.
One trip under ice the boat we operated with went to Zulu while we stayed on Hawai'i time. When we surfaced at the pole the meal times did not match up so no invites to the other boat to share a meal. |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Seems to remember were changed all the clocks to Zulu when we dove and back when we moored back home. I do remember were crossed the date line three times one day doing something we can't talk about. Drove the QM's crazy. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1576
Location: Wollongong, NSW | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
We would add 30 minutes to each watch in the morning and take off the time during the two appropriate silent hours watches for the hour change. Always ran local time. Time/sleep and lighting are weapons as well. Always well worth knowing how the other side may be reacting. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 272
Location: Vista, Ca. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Although I turned 65 on Monday, CRS ain't that bad. On both Gudgeon and Barb (SS and SSN) we kept local time. We changed clocks at each time zone change. A good friend was the quartergasket and his responsibility was to set the clocks and wind the clocks. I always ribbed him about that joke of telling the skipper the "clock were round." |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Happy Birthday!!
I turn 72 on the 8th of next month. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 272
Location: Vista, Ca. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Why thank you. But some of us were young but we'll get there. Happy 72nd. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 438
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Zulu. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1890
Location: Patterson, New York | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
I recall on patrol in the areas around Scotland and Spain, we went on Zulu time just like Steve and Chris said.
I transited the Atlantic twice and on those occasions, we changed the clocks by one hours as we hit the new time zone.
This is from www.navy.mil
What is "Zulu" time?
"Zulu" time is that which you might know as "GMT" (Greenwich Mean Time). Our natural concept of time is linked to the rotation of the earth and we define the length of the day as the 24 hours it takes the earth to spin once on its axis.
As time pieces became more accurate and communication became global, there needed to be a point from which all other world times were based. Since Great Britain was the world's foremost maritime power when the concept of latitude and longitude came to be, the starting point for designating longitude was the "prime meridian" which is zero degrees and runs through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, in Greenwich, England, southeast of central London. As a result, when the concept of time zones was introduced, the "starting" point for calculating the different time zones was/is at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. When it is noon at the observatory, it is five hours earlier (under Standard Time) in Washington, D.C.; six hours earlier in Chicago; seven hours earlier in Denver; and, eight hours earlier in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately the Earth does not rotate at exactly a constant rate. Due to various scientific reasons and increased accuracy in measuring the earth's rotation, a new timescale, called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), has been adopted and replaces the term GMT.
The Navy, as well as civil aviation, uses the letter "Z" (phonetically "Zulu") to refer to the time at the prime meridian. The U.S. time zones are Eastern ["R", "Romeo]; Central ["S", "Sierra"]; Mountain ["T", "Tango"]; Pacific ["U", "Uniform"]; Alaska ["V", "Victor"], and Hawaii ["W", "Whiskey"].
Edited by Thomas Courtien 2017-10-26 6:57 PM
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
We always sailed on Zulu time. |
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Admin
Posts: 2297
Location: Renton, WA | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
By the looks of you in that Holland Club photo it looks as though you always sailed in "Father Time", not Zule  |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Being a dumb Nuke, I actually qualified by standing watches in the Conner Zone. I was told it was good exposure. I seem to remember, while shadowing the Quartermaster Chief, Boomer's went to Zulu time, and stayed there because if the ships clocks were reset at the time zones, a hint of the ships position on a given date might have been disclosed. After all, isn't that why the plot table was kept covered? The entire crew had no need to know, that way they couldn't disclose anything accidentally. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 997
Location: NE Florida | Subject: RE: Time zone changes
Seadragon, in my time, sailed on Zulu time. But it did get confusing at the North Pole, where all time zones are the same.
Coyote |
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Time zone changes
