336 



SLEEP-WAKEFULNESS CYCLE 



among the four sections, 39 in all reporting 

 greatest alertness in the middle of the day, 

 18 and 14 in the morning and evening, re- 

 spectively, and only 3 late at night. These 

 figures are about what one could expect to 

 find in a similar-sized group of civihans. 



By the nature of their living conditions, 

 civihans are usually not called upon to ex- 

 ercise judgment, requiring full alertness, for 

 one to two hours after awakening in the 

 morning. This time is required for making 

 one's toilet, eating breakfast, and traveling 

 to site of one's job. In the change of 

 watches, however, the men are often aroused 

 30 minutes or less before their duties begin. 

 They are frequently obliged to skip their 

 meals because of shortness of time. It is 

 interesting to note that, in their self-rating 

 (Table I), only 9 men felt that they were 

 fully alert immediately upon awakening, 

 while another 21 claimed to be so in less 

 than 15 minutes. By contrast, 44 out of 

 74 required 20 minutes or more to arouse 

 themselves fully, and, of these, 14 needed 

 one to two hours ! It is the writer's opinion 

 that, on the whole, the personnel of the 

 DOGFISH overestimated its ability to be- 

 come fully alert on short notice. 



Quality of Sleep on Submarine 



The narrow treatment of the sleep prob- 

 lem as a phase of habitabihty called for an 

 investigation of the sleeping quarters and the 

 type, size, and arrangements of bunks. For 

 the enhsted personnel, there were 17 bunks 

 in Forward Torpedo Room, 18 in Aft Tor- 

 pedo Room, 27 in the After-Battery Com- 

 partment, and 5 in the Chief Petty Officers' 

 Cabin. The bunks were 25|-26 inches wide 

 and 73-75 inches long, altogether too narrow 

 and somewhat short, especially for tall men. 

 The eight officers' bunks were only a trifle 

 ^^^der and longer (26^-30" by 78-80"). To 

 make matters worse, some bunks were ar- 

 ranged in three or even four tiers (as in the 

 After-Battery Compartment) which placed 

 them so close to each other vertically that 

 it was impossible for a sleeper to turn over 



mthout hitting and scraping against the 

 sagging hammock-type spring of the bunk 

 above. Quite appropriately the men re- 

 ferred to their bunks as "racks." Both the 

 narrowness of the bunks and their vertical 

 crowding discouraged frequent changes in 

 sleeping postures essential for restful sleep. 

 Direct observations of individual sleepers 

 for long periods of time revealed that they 

 tended to "stay put" in the position in which 

 they fell asleep. 



Questioning the men brought out prac- 

 tically no complaints concerning their sleep- 

 ing accommodations. They reported that 

 they fell asleep just as easily on board the 

 DOGFISH as in their shore quarters. How- 

 ever, 51 out of 74 rated the quahty of their 

 sleep on the submarine as poorer than that 

 ashore (Table I), and only three men, all 

 of Section IV, said that they could sleep 

 better on the submarine. The absence of 

 complaints can be explained only by the 

 esprit de corps of the submarine serxace, 

 the general tone of cheerfulness that pre- 

 vailed on board, and the predominately ex- 

 trovert type of personality among the crew. 



Watch Preferences of the Personnel 



Any suggested improvements in the watch 

 schedules must meet with acceptance on the 

 part of the personnel of the submarine. 

 Just as some people persist in eating unbal- 

 anced and physiologically inadequate diets 

 because they are used to them, it would be 

 hard, and psychologically unwise, to impose 

 a superior watch arrangement on an un- 

 willing ship's personnel. In answering ques- 

 tions about watch preferences, the men on 

 the DOGFISH expressed themselves, by a 

 majority of three to two, as being in favor of 

 a fixed watch schedule for the duration of 

 a cruise (Table I). However, the four sec- 

 tions did not vote alike. Section IV, which 

 stood no watches, had only an academic 

 interest in the matter of fixity vs. rotation, 

 and they spht their vote nine to eight or as 

 close to even as was possible. Sections II 

 and III were definitely for fixed watch sched- 



