Naval Knowledge

Chapter FIVE
Performance Objective 405

Let’s once again review one of the three aims of the Sea Cadet Program:

• Stimulate the interest of youth in the sea activities of the Canadian Forces.

What does this mean? By now you have come to realize that our program is rich with the customs of the Canadian Navy and is built upon many of the same traditions. Phase IV Naval Knowledge continues this proud affiliation.

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The Boatswain’s Call

Piping is a naval method of passing orders and information. Orders using a Boatswain Call are known as pipes.

The use of the Boatswain’s Call can be traced back to the year 1248 during the days of the Crusades in England. It was worn in the fleet as an honoured badge of rank, probably because it was always used for passing orders. We also know that as long ago as 1485, it was worn as the badge of office of the Lord high Admiral of England until 1562. Thereafter, it was used for passing all orders and since 1671, it has been known as the Boatswain’s Call. Today the Boatswain’s Call and chain are the badge of office of the Chief Boatswain’s Mate and the Boatswain’s Mate.

Parts of a Boatswain’s Call:

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How to Sound Pipes

The expression to pipe generally means, to make the sound on the Boatswain’s Call and to give the spoken order, which it may qualify. Most pipes, however, are orders in themselves and do not require any verbal addition.

A variety of notes and tones may be obtained with the Boatswain’s Call by manipulating the fingers and varying the breath blown into the mouth of the gun, but certain notes and tones are only used in piping in the Canadian Navy.

Holding the Boatswain’s Call:

• Hold in the right hand between the index finger and thumb.
• The thumb should be on near the shackle.
• The side of the buoy rests against the palm of the hand, and the fingers close over the gun and buoy hole in such a position as to be able to control the exit of air from the buoy to the desired amount. Care must be taken that the fingers do not touch the edge of the hole in the buoy or of the hole in the end of the gun, otherwise all sound will be completely choked.

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The Two Main Notes:

• Low Note - produced by blowing steadily into the mouth of the gun with the hole of the buoy unobstructed by the fingers.

• High Note - produced by controlling the exit of air from the hole of the buoy, which is done by closing the fingers around the buoy, taking care not to touch the edges of the hole or the end of the gun.

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The Three Tones:

• Plain Tone - is marked on the chart with a steady line and is produced by blowing steadily into the gun of the Boatswain’s Call.
• Warble - is marked on the chart with a wavy line and is produced by blowing a series of jerks, which results in a warble sound similar to that of a canary.
• Trill - is marked on the chart with a staccato line and is produced by vibrating the tongue while blowing, as in rolling the letter “R”.

Pipes:

Still (A) - is a call used to pipe all hands to attention as a mark of respect or to order silence on occasions, such as rounds, colours, sunset or to stop all work in the vicinity in order to prevent an accident.

Carry On (B) - is a pipe used after the reason for the Still is completed and signals to all hands they can carry on with their duties.

General Call (C) - is a call that precedes any broadcast and generally used for piping the ship’s daily routine, it draws attention to the order.

The Side (D) - is a call used to pipe the following:

1. The Commanding Officer of a ship or a foreign naval officer (in uniform), a Commodore and above, (in uniform or not) and a member of the Royal Family when either:
    
   1. coming alongside in a boat;
   2. coming on board;
   3. going ashore.
    
2. When a corpse is taken aboard or ashore.
3. When the body is committed to the sea in a funeral at sea.

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How to Berth a Ship

One vital and constantly practiced aspect of seamanship is that of berthing. A ship is said to berth (moor) when it comes alongside a pier or jetty. The principles of berthing can be applied to almost any sized watercraft from a dinghy to a frigate. It is also a skill that if training aboard Coast Guard or CF ships, you will probably have an opportunity to participate in this maneuver. It is because of these positive features, berthing is taught in Phase IV.

Berthing Procedure:

The guiding principle of berthing must be safety. It is simply poor ship handling if safety is compromised.

Step 1 - Before arriving at the destination, a pre-arrival briefing will be held and the ship and line handling instructions will be posted.

Step 2 - Under normal circumstances a ship will approach a jetty - bow first - at an angle of approximately 15 degrees.

Step 3 - The fore spring is normally the first line ashore, as it is used to check the ship’s headway and assist in twisting the stern in towards the jetty. Great care must be exercised on the focsle (forecastle) as excessive headway could lead the fore spring parting.

Step 4 - The head rope is the second line ashore, and is normally taken to the capstan in order to control the ship’s head.

Step 5 - In the aft, the first line ashore is normally the stern rope, which is taken to the capstan and heaved in to bring the stern onto the jetty. The after spring is the second line ashore aft and is used to check any sternway that develops while maneuvering alongside. The breast lines (normally two) are taken ashore in no particular order (depending on jetty bollard location) and are down-slacked by hand as the head and stern ropes (and engines) are worked to bring the ship alongside.

Unlimited circumstances will result in modifying the plans. For instance, a ship may back into a berth with or without tug assistance, and then make a forward departure. An anchor may be used to help control the movement of the bow in high winds. In any event, a sound plan that is made clear to all ship hands is the key to the safe conduct of the evolution.

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Securing the Ship to the Jetty

The ship is held fast to the jetty by several hawsers, commonly referred to as berthing lines. Each hawser has a special name and purpose in the berthing procedure.

• Stern Rope - assists in keeping the ship from moving astern, and lateral movement alongside.
• Head Rope - assists in keeping the ship from moving head, and prevents lateral movement alongside.
• Spring Lines - lead obliquely, but nearly parallel to the ship. They control the fore and aft position of the ship with respect to her berth.
• Fore or Head Spring - any spring that leads aft and prevents the ship from moving forward.
• After or Back Spring - any spring that leads forward and prevents the ship from moving aft.
• Breast Lines - lead nearly perpendicular to the keel of the ship and control lateral movement or the distance that the ship lies from the jetty.

So, how do you secure hawsers to the ship or jetty? This is done by belaying the line to a bollard, cleat, or staghorn.

The bollard is a heavy, metal, capped pipe, securely riveted to strengthened deckplates through the frames. They are placed along the ship’s side in appropriate positions, and in conjunction with the fairleads, are used to secure the berthing wires and hawsers. When belaying a wire or hawser to a bollard, it should first be passed around the horn furthest from the pull, then in figure-of-eight turns, pulled taut. Care must be taken not to override turns. When the turns are to be left on for some time they may be seized where the figure-of-eight turns cross. This is called racking.

A cleat or staghorn has horns around which figure-of-eight turns are applied, as many as are required. A rope belayed to a cleat or staghorn must be ready for casting off at a moment’s notice; therefore the turns should not be completed with a half hitch, because this may jam them. Cleats are not suitable for belaying wire rope.

Ship’s berthing lines are led over the ship’s side through fairleads, which have smooth edges to reduce the wear of the rope. On the outboard end, there is normally a soft eye, which may be slung over a bollard on the jetty. On the inboard end, these ropes are turned up on bollards in a figure-of-eight manner as previously discussed.

Heaving Lines

In order to pass a hawser or similar type line ashore, a lighter line that can be worked quickly must first be passed to make contact, and then be used to haul the hawser over. Under normal circumstances, heaving lines are thrown the short distance from the ship to the berthing party waiting on the jetty.

To prepare a heaving line for throwing, it should be wetted and from 22 metres to 24 metres should be coiled carefully in the left (non-throwing) hand, using rather small coils. One-third of the line is taken in the right (throwing) hand; the line is then thrown with the right arm straight, and it must be allowed to run out freely from the coil in the left hand. The most frequent cause of bad casts is failure to have this coil properly clear for running.

If you are fortunate enough to participate in a ship deployment at a SCSTC, on one of HMC ships, Coast Guard or Tall Ship, knowing how to properly berth is a skill that will come in quite handy!

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Standing Watch

Another important element of life onboard ship is standing watch. Because a ship is operational 24 hours a day a 24-hour clock is used instead of the usual 12-hour clock. The day is divided up to ensure operations but to also allow for down time and a time to sleep. The 24-hour clock ensures there is no confusion with whether it is AM or PM.

The day is divided into watches as follows:

The Dog Watches were added to break-up the 1600 to 2000 into two watches to ensure that members would not end up standing the same watches each day.

The Ship’s company is also divided up into groups that stand the watches. A couple of examples of this division are shown below:

At your cadet corps you will be required to stand watch as follows:

• Normally the routine at the corps requires individuals to form a duty watch at the end of a parade night to secure the ship. On a Mandatory Support Weekend, a watch may be set up to keep a fire going or secure the grounds. Each corps will have different duties for each watch.
• Just like on a ship, the daily sea routine is laid out in the Standing Orders. It is the job of the Executive Officer to develop these orders and it is the duty of the Coxswain to ensure that the routine is carried out. You are responsible for knowing and being in the right place at the right time (Phase I stuff). The Boatswain’s Mate pipes the routine with the boatswain’s call to ensure announcements to the routine are made.

Did you know that Canadians drink more coffee than tea? Coffee drinkers outnumber tea drinkers by about five to one. If you are asked to stand a night duty - remember this!

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The Role of the Canadian Navy

There’s a reason why you were interested in joining Sea Cadets over Air or Army cadets. Chances are that you thought that Sea Cadets would probably have an element of training similar to that of the Canadian Navy. Well, you were right, and by now you’ve discovered that the majority of your naval training is based upon the proud customs and traditions of the Navy, but do you truly understand the role of the Canadian Navy in today’s world?

The Canadian Navy is an ever-changing element of the Canadian Forces. Their role is dependent upon the current operational requirements placed upon them. Basically, the Navy fulfills the following responsibilities:

• Defending Canada by maintaining a level of preparedness in case a threat arises.
• Participating in major wars.
• Peacekeeping as required by the United Nations and other multinational organizations to maintain or restore international peace.
• Helping Canada by protecting the peace and security of Canadians during times of natural disaster or civil emergency.

All you need to do is to pick up a newspaper, or turn on the news, to see the Navy’s role in current world affairs. As a Petty Officer 2nd Class, can you answer the following?

• Name at least two of the ships that are currently operational.
• Name one location where Canadian ships have patrolled during the year.
• Understand the purpose of the patrol or mission that the Navy has participated in.

Did you know that former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson is known as the Father of Peacekeeping? He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for introducing a new kind of peacekeeping to the United Nations.

It is expected that you will know the answers to these questions. Because this information constantly changes, it is important to keep current by research and monitoring current events. Check out the most recent information on the Web at:

www.dnd.ca then follow the prompts to the Navy Homepage.

The Public Library may be able to give you access to the Internet but most of their books will not give current information on the Navy. Their Media collection, however, will have current public information.

A CF Recruiting Centre in your area can be found by calling 1-800-856-8488 or reach them on the Web at http://www.recruiting.dnd.ca.

Finally, your Area Cadet Detachment will have access to Public Affairs contacts.

As you can see, there are many places to find information on Canada’s Navy. Using these resources, you should be able to answer the following types of questions about the Navy:

• How many ships are currently commissioned and in operation by the Canadian Navy?
• What are the classes or types (Kingston class, Oberon or Upholder submarine, etc.)?
• What is the purpose of each class?
• How many CF members on board?
• What are the names of the ships?
• What does HMCS stand for?
• Where are the ships right now?
• Has Canada’s Navy participated in any United Nations Operations this year? If so, what do you know about their involvement?
• What are the future plans of the Canadian Navy?
• Why do we have a Canadian Navy?

Learning about the Canadian Navy can be very exciting as it offers a world of mystery and intrigue. Take this opportunity to discover some of the fascinating assignments that Canada is a part of. Your interest and research into the Navy is an important and vital part of Sea Cadet training.

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Conclusion

Naval Knowledge is an important element of putting the “sea” into Sea Cadets. Learning skills that link Sea Cadets to the Canadian Navy ensures that we carry on the proud customs and traditions that have become an integral part of our program. After all, this is what makes Sea Cadets unique from any other youth group.

Other chapters:

Table of Contents | Chapter 1: Serve with a Sea Cadet Corps | Chapter 2: Drill | Chapter 5: Naval Knowledge | Chapter 6 : Seamanship | Chapter 8: Instructional Technique | Chapter 9: Outdoor Adventure Training | Chapter 10: Physical Fitness | Chapter 11: Canadian Citizenship