RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 



337 



ules, and only Section I voted for rotation. 

 When the men of the latter were questioned 

 on the subject, they gave as their main rea- 

 son for not wanting to remain on the 4-8 

 and 16-20 o'clock watches for the entire 

 duration of the cruise that they often slept 

 through dinner, the best meal of the day. 

 By rotation of watches, they would not miss 

 the noon meal for, at least, part of the cruise. 

 The two groups (A and B in Table I) were 

 further queried on their preference for duty 

 at one or another time of the day. Rela- 

 tively more men preferred day duty in Group 

 B than in Group A, but the opposite was 

 true with respect to night duty. It will also 

 be noted that, of the seven men in Section 

 I who voted for fixed watch schedules, two 

 preferred night duty and five were indiffer- 

 ent to hours of duty. About 40 percent 

 of each group were indifferent to the hours 

 of duty, which is a good basis on which to 

 build physiologically sound watch schedules 

 for the personnel as a whole. 



Recommendations for Further 

 Research 



The survey of the routine of living on a 

 typical submarine under way revealed an 

 incomplete adjustment of the personnel to 

 the requirement of an even degree of alert- 

 ness during the 24-hour cycle of day and 

 night and an absence of conditions condu- 

 cive to such an adjustment. In seeking 

 optimal efficiency around the clock, investi- 

 gations have to be made of the variation 

 in efficiency under the present schedules 

 of activit}^, as well as under experimental 

 modifications of current routines. The mod- 

 ifications must be psychologically and so- 

 cially acceptable and lead to improvement 

 in performance. Both features are suscep- 

 tible to trial under actual operating condi- 

 tions of submarines, but individual elements 

 of modified schedules can perhaps be tested 

 more easily under laboratory conditions. 

 The listing of the problems to be attacked 

 under the general heading of achieving 

 greatest efficiency of operation, as well as 



contentment and health of the personnel, 

 does not necessarily indicate an order of pri- 

 ority in the research projects recommended. 



A. Watch Schedules Based on tlie 24-Hour 

 Cycle 



Simplicity of timing operations suggests 

 the preservation of the currently accepted 

 diurnal cycle in the construction of experi- 

 mental schedules of activities. Fig. 4 repre- 

 sents a schematic arrangement of a routine 

 of watches and meals for each of the three 

 sections into which the e7itire personnel of 

 the submarin should be divided. The time 

 table would b as follows: 



Section I 



Watches: 8-10, 12-16, 20-22. Meals: 6J-7, 10^ 

 11,171-18. Sleep: 22-6 



Section II 



Watches: 16-20, 22-24, 3-5. Meals: 15|-16, 

 20§-21, l|-2. Sleep: 6-14 



Section III 



Watches: 0-3, 5-8, 10-12. Meals: 22i-23, 3f-4, 

 8^9. Sleep: 14-22 



Diurnal routine is fixed for duration of cruise, 

 either (1) by seniority, or (2) by individual 

 preference, or (3) by lot. 



General features common to all schedules: 



1. Three "close" watches during single period 

 of wakefulness: 2, 4, and 2 hours for Section 

 I; 4, 2, and 2 hours for Section II; 3, 3, and 

 2 hours for Section III. 



2. Long stretches of free time: 10 hours for 

 Section I, 11 hours for Section II, 12 hours 

 for Section III; 2 to 4 hours of rest between 

 watches. 



3. Meal schedules are arranged so that at least 

 one hour elapses between end of meal and 

 beginning of watch period. 



4. Hours of sleep may be optional, falling 

 within the long stretches of free time avail- 

 able under all routines; the hours may also 

 be fixed and, as suggested above, non-over- 

 lapping, permitting the exclusion of non- 

 sleepers from sleeping quarters and the use 

 of rotary bedding equipment. 



5. At least two hours elapse between awakening 

 and beginning of first watch. 



