The Shipboard Navigation Department Organization

Abstract

While the basic techniques of safe navigation of a seagoing surface vessel are essentially independent of the size of the vessel, there is, of course, a wide variety of navigation department organizations on board different types of ships. The entire crew of a small boat may consist of only one or two people, who carry out navigational responsibilities in addition to all other responsibilities of operating the vessel. Aboard most merchant vessels, the navigation department usually consists of a single deck officer, typically a second mate, who performs the assignment as ship’s navigator as a collateral duty, and who is assisted when the ship is under way by the ship’s master and the deck officer on watch. On board Navy ships, the ship’s navigator may be a collateral duty assignment on destroyer-type ships and smaller, and a full-time billet on larger ships and staffs. Since the duties of navigator on a warship are generally considerably more complex than on a merchant ship, Navy navigators are assisted by a division of from two to twenty enlisted personnel of the quartermaster rating, with the exact number dependent on the size and mission of the ship. On larger Navy ships such as a cruiser or carrier, the division may even constitute a separate ship’s department, with a junior officer assigned as assistant navigator and N-division officer.