NAVIGATION AND SAFETY AT SEA 



The liner she's a lady, an 'er route is cut and dried; 



The man-o' -war's 'er 'usband 



an' 'e always keeps beside — Rudyard Kipling 



It would be hard to add to Kipling's description of the close 

 relationship which exists between the Navy and the merchant 

 marine. For the Navy is the guardian and the protector of private 

 shipping on the high seas and on the foreign waters of the world, 

 in both peace and time of war. The principal ocean and 

 foreign trade routes followed by American ships are in fact "cut 

 and dried" only because of the navigational tools developed and 

 made available by the Navy to all mariners and others needing them. 



NAVIGATIONAL TOOLS 



Navigational tools take many forms. They may be charts, 

 which will be discussed later, or instruments, or position fixing 

 systems, or navigational manuals or tables. All have one primary 

 purpose— that of enabling a navigator to reach his destination 

 safely. This involves alerting him to any hazards on his journey, 

 no matter where he may be on, above, or below the surface of that 

 part of our planet which man calls the ocean. Only with such 

 knowledge can ship navigators entrusted with human lives and 

 other cargoes follow the best routes and avoid hidden dangers. 

 Only with such knowledge can further accurate and useful surveys 

 be made of the world's oceans, or of what has been so aptly 

 described as "inner space". 



In the early 1800's, American ships were dependent largely upon 

 other nations for the navigational instruments, charts, and sailing 

 directions needed for navigation on the high seas. Lack of a 

 hydrographic service in the United States forced the U. S. Navy — 



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