Attack of the Seawolf

GLOSSARY

ACR (Anti-Circular Run) — A torpedo interlock that prevents the weapon from acquiring on the firing ship. When the torpedo turns more than 160 degrees from the approach course to the target, the onboard gyro sends a signal to the central processor to shut down the unit. It then sinks.

Active Sonar — The determination of a contact’s bearing and range by pinging a sound pulse into the ocean and listening for the reflection of the ping from the target. The time interval between transmission and reception gives target range using the speed of sound in water. The direction of the return pulse indicates the target bearing. Generally not used by submarines since it gives away the ship’s position.

Anechoic Coating — A thick foam coating attached to the outside of the hulls of some submarines. It absorbs incoming active sonar pulses without reflecting them back, while damping out internal noises before they can get outside the ship. Analogous to stealth radar absorptive material on a stealth aircraft.

Angle On The Bow — The angle between an observer’s line-of-sight to a target ship and the target’s heading. A ship coming dead on has an angle on the bow of zero degrees. If the contact is going on a course at a right angle to his bearing from the oh server, the angle on the bow is port (or starboard) 90 degrees.

ASH (Anti-Self Homing) — A torpedo interlock that measures the distance from the firing ship. If the torpedo comes back toward the firing ship, at 80 % of the return trip, the ASH interlock will shut down the unit, and it floods and sinks.

ASW — (1) Antisubmarine warfare. (2) Auxiliary seawater system.

ASWSOW — Antisubmarine warfare standoff weapon. A supersonic solid rocket fueled missile launched from a submarine at either a surfaced or submerged target. Also called “Ow-sow.”

Baffles — A “cone of silence” astern of most submarines where sonar reception is hindered by engines, turbines, screws, and other mechanical equipment located in the aft end of a submarine.

Ballast Tank — Tank that is used solely to hold seawater ballast, weight that allows a ship to sink, or, when blown, allows a ship to be light enough to surface.

Battleshort — A condition in which the nuclear reactor’s safety interlocks are removed. Used only in a severe emergency or in battle, when an accidental reactor shutdown is more dangerous to the ship due to loss of propulsion than the potential risk of a reactor meltdown. Only the captain can order Battleshort.

Bearing — Direction to a contact, expressed in degrees. A contact to the north is at a bearing of 000. A contact to the east is at 090, etc.

Bigmouth Antenna — Slang name for the AN BRA-34 multi frequency antenna. A radio antenna suitable for transmission or reception of several frequencies including HF, VHF, and UHF. Shaped like a telephone pole, it protrudes from the sail about 25 feet.

Bridge — Small space at the top of a submarine’s sail used for the Officer of the Deck to control the movement of the ship when on the surface. The height allows a better view of the surroundings of the ship.

Bridge Access Trunk — Tunnel from the interior of the submarine to the bridge.

Broadband — Noise containing all frequencies; white noise, such as heard in radio static, rainfall, or a waterfall. Broadband detection range is high for surface ships, which are noisy. Broadband detection range is low for submarines, usually less than five miles, due to quiet submarine designs.

Bubblehead — Derogatory slang for submariner, used by aviators (Airdales) and surface sailors (skimmers).

Check Fire — Order to abort a pending weapon launch.

CINCPAC — Commander-in-Chief Pacific. Admiral in command, U.S. Pacific Forces.

Clamshells — The steel or fiberglass hinged plates that cover the top of the bridge cockpit when rigged for dive and are opened when rigged for surface. When shut, the top of the sail is completely smooth.

Clear Datum — Tactical euphemism meaning run away.

C.O. (Commanding Officer) — Official title of the captain of a ship.

COMMSAT — Communications satellite in a geosynchronous orbit that sends and relays Navy radio traffic.

Contact — Another ship, detected by visual means, sonar, or radar. A contact can be hostile or friendly.

Course — The direction a ship is going measured in true compass degrees. North is 000. East is 090. South is 180, etc.

Critical — The point that a nuclear reactor’s fission rate is constant without an external source of neutrons. The chain reaction keeps fissions continuing using neutrons from fissions.

Deck — (1) Floor of the submarine. Each compartment is either two or three decks high. (2) Responsibility for the physical operation of the ship. The officer who has the Deck makes decisions about equipment lineups, how to run and operate ship systems, etc.” while the conning officer concerns himself with ship navigation, course, speed, and relationship to the target. Usually the OOD has both the Deck and the Conn.

Depth Control — Ability to control a ship’s depth within a narrow control band. Done either manually, with a computer, or with the hovering system (when stopped). Particularly vital at periscope depth because failure to maintain depth control can cause the sail to become exposed (broach), giving away the ship’s position.

Dogs — Banana-shaped pieces of metal that act as clasps to keep a hatch shut.

Dolphins — Pin worn above left pocket of submariner’s uniform, indicating the person is qualified in submarines. Qualification typically takes one gruelling year. Enlisted men wear silver dolphins; officers wear gold. Dolphins, when not worn on the pocket, are a general symbol of the Submarine Force.

Doppler Effect — Effect responsible for train whistles sounding shrill when the train approaches and low pitched when the train is past. When a moving platform emits sound waves, the waves are compressed ahead and rarefacted (spread apart) behind the source. The compression of the waves raises their frequency, making a higher note.

EMBT Blow — Emergency main ballast tank blow.

Emergency Blow — Blowing the water out of the main ballast tanks using ultra-high-pressure air. Empties ballast tanks in seconds, lightening the ship, allowing the ship to get to the surface in an emergency such as flooding.

Emergency Propulsion Motor (EPM) — A large DC motor aft in the engine room capable of turning the shaft to achieve 3 knots using battery power alone. An electricity hog.

EO (Electrical Operator) — Enlisted nuclear-qualified watch stander who mans the Electric Plant Control Panel and reports to the EOOW.

EOOW (Engineering Officer of the Watch) — Nuclear-qualified officer who runs the nuclear power plant. Responsible to the OOD for propulsion and propulsion plant damage control.

Escape Trunk — A spherical airlock used on American nuclear submarines. The device can be used to make emergency exits from a sub sunk in shallow water. Principally used for divers to lock in or lock out.

ESGN — Ship’s inertial navigation system using a small metal ball that spins at about 10,000 RPM to gyroscopically maintain a constant reference (north).

ESM (Electronics Surveillance Measures) — The gathering of intelligence through the analysis of enemy signals, including radars and radio transmitters.

EWS (Engineering Watch Supervisor) — A Chief who is a roving supervisory watch stander in the engineering spaces. Reports to the EOOW.

Fathom — Unit of depth equal to six feet.

Fathometer — Bottom sounding sonar that directs an active sonar pulse down to the ocean bottom and measures the time for the pulse to reflect back and hence the distance to the bottom. New units transmit a secure pulse, using a short duration random high frequency pulse.

Final Bearing and Shoot — Order of the captain to shoot a torpedo after he takes one last periscope observation of a surface target.

Firecontrol Solution — A contact’s range, course, and speed. A great mystery when using passive sonar. Determining the solution requires maneuvering one’s own ship and doing calculations on the target’s bearing rate. Can be obtained manually or with the firecontrol computer.

Firecontrol System — A computer system that accepts input from the periscope, sonar, and radar (when on the surface) to determine the firecontrol solution. The system also programs, fires, steers, and monitors torpedoes. If a ship is cruise missile equipped, the system will program and fire the missile.

Firecontrol Team — A collection of people whose task is to put a weapon on a target. Includes the sonar operators, OOD, JOOD, Captain, XO, firecontrol operators on Pos One, Pos Two, Pos Three, the firing panel, and the manual plotters (geographic, time-bearing, time-range, and time-frequency).

Firing Panel — A console section between Pos Two and Pos Three. The vertical section is a tube weapon status panel. The horizontal section has the trigger, a lever used to fire a torpedo or cruise missile.

Firing Point Procedures — An order by the captain to the firecontrol team to tell them to prepare to fire the weapon, done during a deliberate approach when the solution is refined, as opposed to a Snapshot. The solution is locked into the weapon and the ship is put into a firing attitude.

Fix — A ship’s position. Determined by visual triangulation or radar when close to land on the surface, or by NAV SAT or BE sonar when at sea.

Flag Plot — A chart room used by flag officers (admirals) to plot strategy or determine the distribution of forces.

Flank Speed — Maximum speed of a U.S. submarine. Requires fast speed reactor main coolant pumps and running at 100 % reactor power.

FLASH — The highest priority of a radio message. Receipt required within minutes or seconds.

Forced Circulation — Forced flow of water coolant through a reactor using pumps, as opposed to natural circulation.

G — A measure of acceleration. The acceleration due to gravity is one g. Two g’s is twice, etc.

Geographic Plot — (1) A manual plot saved from World War II submarine days using the plot table to deduce a firecontrol solution. Works well on unsuspecting targets. Target zigs cause confusion on this plot. Useless in a melee situation. (2) A mode of display of the Mark I firecontrol system showing a God’s eye view of the sea with own ship at the center and the other contacts and their solutions surrounding it.

GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) — A worldwide time standard using the time at longitude zero at Greenwich, England. Also called Zulu time.

GPS (Global Positioning System) — A series of satellites and shipborne receivers enabling extremely precise navigation fixes. Also called the NAV SAT

Gyro/ Gyroscope — Electrical compass using a rapidly spinning gyroscope.

Head — Seagoing term for bathroom.

Helm — The wheel that turns the ship’s rudder. Also short for helmsman.

Hovering System — A depth control system managed by a computer that keeps the ship in one point underwater. Used by boomers when launching missiles. Used by fast attack submarines to establish a desired vertical speed (depth rate) to vertical surface through polar ice.

Hull Array — One of the sonar hydrophone element assemblies (arrays) of the BAT EARS sonar suite, consisting of multiple hydrophones placed against the skin of the hull over about one-third of the ship’s length. Used mostly as a backup to the spherical array because the hull array’s sensitivity is reduced by own ship noise inside the hull.

HUMINT — Human intelligence, that gained from foreign agents or American intelligence officers.

IR — Infrared.

JOOD — Junior Officer of the Deck; Assistant to the OOD. When in transit, the JOOD is usually an unqualified officer in a training position, given the Conn and supervised by the OOD.

KH-17 — Newest generation of Bigbird spy satellites. The KH stands for Keyhole — appropriate for a spy platform.

LAMPS — Light airborne multipurpose system. Cute acronym for a Seahawk ASW helicopter carried aboard a U.S. Navy surface ship.

Leg — The straight line travel of a submarine doing passive sonar Target Motion Analysis (TMA) between maneuvers. During a leg the crew attempts to establish a steady bearing rate to the target and establish speed across the line-of-sight to the target. Two legs determine a firecontrol solution. Three legs confirm the solution. Four legs indicate the captain is afraid to shoot. A large sign at Prospective Commanding Officer School in Groton, Connecticut, reads “you don’t need another GODDAMNED LEG!”

List — Tilt of a ship to the side.

Locking In/ Locking Out — Entering or leaving a submerged submarine through the escape trunk (airlock).

Lookaround — (1) A periscope observation. (2) A warning by the OOD or captain to the ship control team that the periscope is about to be raised. The Diving Officer and helmsman report ship’s speed and depth as a reminder, since high speeds can rip the periscope off and flood the ship through the periscope hole.

MAD (Magnetic Anomaly Detector) — A detector flown on an aircraft that measures changes in the earth’s magnetic field that could be caused by the iron hull of a submarine.

Main Ballast Tank — Tank that is used solely to hold seawater ballast, weight that allows a ship to sink, or, when blown, allows a ship to be light enough to surface.

Main Engines (Propulsion Turbines) — The large turbines that extract energy from steam and convert it to power to turn the screw.

Main Steam Valves One and Two (MS-1, MS-2) — Large gate valves on the port and starboard main steam headers, at the forward bulkhead of the aft compartment. These can isolate the main steam system in the event of a major steam leak.

Maneuvering — The nuclear control room, located in the aft compartment upper level. Smaller than most closets.

Maneuvering Watch — The watch stations manned when a ship gets underway in restricted waters.

Mark 36 or 38 — A torpedo-sized decoy vehicle that transmits the sounds of a submarine and can be programmed to maneuver through the ocean like a submarine; used to evade a trailing hostile ship or torpedo.

Mark 50 — Latest breed of torpedo. Also called the “Hullcrusher.”

Mark 80 SLAAM — Submarine-launched anti-air missile.

Mark On Top — Term used to note that a hostile aircraft is flying directly over the submarine. Generally means the submarine has been detected by the aircraft and will be under attack almost immediately. Usually followed by an expletive, i.e. “P-3 mark on top, dammit.”

Natural Circulation — Water flow through a reactor caused only by the heat of the core — hot water rises and cold sinks. Eliminates use of noisy main coolant pumps, allowing quieter operation.

NESTOR Secure Voice — A UHF radio-telephone communication system that encrypts a voice signal prior to transmission and de crypts it after reception. Can be transmitted to the satellite and beamed worldwide. Fast, secure means of communication.

New Kuomintang (NKMT) — A Chinese revolutionary group modeled after the unsuccessful faction of the 1940s. The NKMT, with Japanese support, is dedicated to the overthrow of the Chinese Communists.

NMCC (National Military Command Center) — A nerve center in the Pentagon where, in theory, orders would originate for fighting a nuclear war. Seasoned officers scoff at the idea that NMCC would survive the first ten minutes of a surprise decapitation assault.

Nukes — (1) Nuclear weapons. (2) Nuclear-trained officers and enlisted men.

OOD (Officer of the Deck) — Officer in tactical command of the ship, a sort of acting captain. Directs the motion of the ship, giving rudder, speed, and depth orders. Responsible for ship’s navigation, operation of the ship’s equipment, and employment of the ship’s weapons. Usually has the Deck and the Conn. Needs captain’s permission to do certain operations, such as go to periscope depth, start up the reactor, transmit active sonar or transmit radio, or launch a weapon. Done best while smoking a cigar and telling sea stories.

OP — Operation or mission.

OP AREA — A specific ocean area devoted to a particular exercise or operation. Some OP AREA are permanent, some are established only for one exercise.

OP REP 3 PINNACLE — Name of a message that is sent with FLASH priority to the White House and NMCC telling of a dire emergency requiring immediate action, such as an incoming nuclear assault.

Overhead — Nautical term for ceiling.

Ow-Sow — Pronunciation of ASWSOW, antisubmarine warfare standoff weapon.

PA. Circuit One — Shipwide Public Address announcing system.

PA. Circuit Two — Similar to PA. Circuit One, except that it only announces in the engineering spaces.

PA. Circuit Seven — Speaker announcing system used between the Conn, Maneuvering, the bridge, and the torpedo room.

Passive Sonar — Most common mode of employment of most submarine sonar systems. Sonar system is used only to listen, not to ping out active sonar beams, since pinging gives away a covert submarine’s presence. Use of passive sonar makes it difficult to determine a contact’s range, course, and speed (solution). TMA is the means of obtaining a solution when using passive sonar.

Patrol Quiet — Ship system’s lineup to ensure maximum quiet while allowing normal creature comforts such as cooking and movie watching. Maintenance on equipment is allowed, if it does not involve banging on the hull. Noisy operations are permitted only with the captain’s permission, such as reactor coolant discharge, steam generator blow downs etc.

PD (Periscope Depth) — An operation in which a ship comes shallow enough to see with the periscope. Certain operations can be done only at periscope depth by decree of the Submarine Standard Operating Procedures manual. Such items include steam generator blow down shooting trash from the TDU, and blowing sanitary. Some things can only be done at PD, including radio reception of satellite broadcasts, reception of a NAV SAT pass, and ESM activities. Slows the ship down since high speeds can rip off the periscope. Dangerous operation since quiet surface ships can get close without being detected by sonar.

Pilot — A person who has detailed knowledge and experience of a port and approach waterways. Taken on prior to entering or exiting port to serve as an advisor to the captain. A mixed blessing for ship captains, since a pilot’s mistake still gets the captain fired (the ship is the captain’s ultimate responsibility, not the pilot’s), while ignoring a pilot can also get a captain fired, especially if the ship runs aground.

Ping — An active sonar pulse.

P.L.A — People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese military, composing both the army and navy.

Polymer Injection — The injection of a polymer into the boundary layer of a submarine at the nose cone The slippery liquid reduces the skin friction of the ship, reducing the drag. The result is the ability to dramatically increase ship’s top speed for short periods of time. Ideal for torpedo evasion.

Poopy Suit — Underway uniform worn by American submariners. Usually cotton coveralls. Origin unknown, but probably refers to frequent occurrence of showers and laundry service being curtailed when rigged for ultra quiet or when the evaporator is broken, causing the coveralls to stink.

Position One (Pos One) — Furthest forward console of the firecontrol system. Usually set up with the captain’s and XO’s guess solution to the contact, or shows the geographic display for a God’s eye view of the sea.

Position Two (Pos Two) — Firecontrol console between Pos One and the Firing Panel. Usually set up to the Line-of-Sight mode so that the Pos Two officer can come up with his own independent firecontrol solution under the XO’s supervision.

Position Three (Pos Three) — Furthest aft console of the firecontrol system. Usually set up to program torpedo tubes and weapons.

Power Range — Nuclear power level above the intermediate range. In the power range, steam can be produced by the reactor for propulsion.

PRC — People’s Republic of China, the Communists.

Propulsor — Sophisticated screw that uses ducting and multistage water turbine blades for propulsion instead of a conventional screw. Similar to a water jet. Extremely quiet and nearly impossible to cavitate. Disadvantage includes slow response and acceleration due to relatively low thrust compared to conventional screws.

Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) — Weapons officer aboard a U.S. Navy fighter aircraft.

Range — Distance to a contact.

Reactor Compartment — Compartment housing the reactor, pressurizer, steam generators, and reactor main coolant pumps. Access fore and aft is through a shielded tunnel, since anyone inside the compartment when the reactor is critical would be dead within a minute from the intense radiation.

Reactor Main Coolant Pumps — Massive pumps, each consuming between 100 and 400 horsepower, that force main coolant water through the reactor and then to the steam generators. Three are in each main coolant loop. Special design allows zero leakage.

Reactor Plant Control Panel (RPCP) — Control panel in the maneuvering room where the Reactor Operator controls the reactor.

Reduction Gear — The mechanism that converts the high RPMs of the two main engines (propulsion turbines) to the slow RPM of the screw. Solves the problem of how to get two turbines to drive a single screw. Also solves the problem of how to let the main engines rotate at high RPM where they are efficient while letting the screw rotate at the low RPM where it is efficient. Unfortunately, the reduction gear is one of the noisiest pieces of equipment aboard.

REM — Roentgen Equivalent Man. A unit of radiation dosage that takes into account tissue damage due to neutron radiation. Convenient since it allows gamma, alpha, and neutron radiation to be measured with the same units. 1000 rem will kill. 500 rem may kill. Yearly dose for submarine personnel is restricted to less than 25 to 100 milli rem

Rig For Black — Submarine term meaning “turn off the lights in the control room.”

Rig For Dive — A detailed valve and switch lineup done in preparation to dive. Initially done by a dolphin-wearing enlisted man and checked by a dolphin-wearing officer.

Rig For Patrol Quiet — Ship systems lineup to ensure maximum quiet while allowing normal creature comforts such as cooking and movie watching. Maintenance on equipment is allowed, if it does not involve banging on the hull. Noisy operations are permitted only with the captain’s permission, such as reactor coolant discharge, steam generator blow downs etc.

Rig For Ultraquiet — Ship systems lineup done in a tactical situation such as a close trailing OP or in wartime. Only the quietest equipment is running. Offwatch personnel are required to be in bed. The galley, showers, laundry, movies, and maintenance of equipment are all prohibited to minimize noise. Hard-soled shoes are prohibited. Lights are shifted to red to remind the crew of the need for silence. The ship is eerily quiet, as if run by ghosts.

Rig For White — Submarine term meaning “turn on the lights in the control room.”

RO (Reactor Operator) — Nuclear-trained enlisted man who mans the Reactor Plant Control Panel and reports to the EOOW.

RPG — Rocket-propelled grenade.

Run-To-Enable — Initial torpedo run taking it away from own ship. During the run-to-enable, the warhead is not armed and the sonar is not operational. When the run-to-enable is complete, the weapon activates the active or passive sonar and swims the search pattern. The warhead is not armed until it has a detect on the target.

Sail — Conning tower. Named because, unlike the conning towers of World War II diesel boats, which were misshapen and asymmetrical, modern nuclear submarine conning towers are smooth fins with square profiles when viewed from the side. Someone in the distant past called it a sail and the term became official.

SCRAM — An emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor, done by driving control rods to the bottom of the core using springs. A term left over from the 1940s when primitive lab reactors had a single control rod suspended by a rope. An emergency shutdown would be done by cutting the rope and letting the rod drop by gravity. The safety man was called the Safety Control Rod Ax Man — hence SCRAM.

SCRAM Breaker — A circuit breaker that interrupts power to the latching electromagnets of the control rod drive mechanisms. When the breaker opens, electrical power to the electromagnets is shut off, the magnets lose their magnetism, and the latches of the rods open, lowing springs to drop the rods to the bottom of the core.

Scrambled Eggs — The gold branches of leaves sewn onto the brim of a senior officer’s cap.

Scrubber — CO₂ scrubber. Atmospheric control equipment that rids the ship of carbon dioxide (from breathing, the diesel, and the CO burner) by blowing it over an amine bed.

SEAL — Sea/Air/Land commando.

Sea Trials — Post-construction shakedown cruise of a ship. Done to ensure the equipment lives up to specifications and is ready to perform its mission.

SECDEF — Secretary of Defense.

Section Tracking Team — A firecontrol team stationed to man the plots and firecontrol system when tracking a hostile contact for extended periods of time. Modified battle stations So named because each watch section (similar to a shift) has its own tracking team.

Ship Control Panel (SCP) — The console from which the ship’s depth, course, and speed are controlled. This console resembles a 747 cockpit, with the Sternplanesman on one side, the Helmsman on the other, and the Diving Officer behind and between them.

Ship Control Team — The watch standers manning the Ship Control Panel, including the Sternplanesman, the Helmsman, and the Diving Officer. Sometimes includes the Chief of the Watch, off to the port side at the Ballast Control Panel.

Shoot On Generated Bearing — Captain’s order to shoot a torpedo based on the firecontrol solution’s estimate of where a target should be, not on the last actual bearing from sonar. When ordered, the firecontrol team locks in the firecontrol solution to the target, and when the torpedo reports back, the captain is given one last chance to say either “Shoot” or “Check fire.”

SITREP — Situation report, a high priority radio message to a high-level commander reporting the status of a contact or enemy.

Signal Ejector — A small torpedo tube used to eject flares (for signalling surface ships), communication buoys (which can transmit hours after the ship has cleared datum; also used for SUB SUNK buoys), and countermeasures (torpedo decoys).

SLAAM — Submarine-launched anti-air missile.

Snapshot — A quick reaction torpedo shot, usually done only when fired upon first.

Snorkel — A mast designed to bring air into the submarine so that the air breathing diesel generator can use it for combustion when the reactor is scrammed.

Solution — A contact’s range, course, and speed. A great mystery when using passive sonar. Determining the solution requires maneuvering own ship and doing calculations on the target’s bearing rate. Can be obtained manually or with the firecontrol computer.

Sonobuoys — Small objects dropped from ASW aircraft that float on the surface and listen to the ocean below, then transmit that information up to the aircraft. A method of giving an aircraft sonar capability.

SPEC-OP — Special operation, usually top secret, and usually very hairy.

SPEC WAR — Special warfare. Commando operations.

Spherical Array — A sphere in the nose cone of a submarine fitted with transducers over most of its surface to be able to hear in all directions (except the baffles). Useful since it not only tells the bearing to an incoming noise, but also its DE (deflection elevation). The DE can give clues that the sound is relayed via bottom bounce or surface bounce, or even that a close contact is deeper or shallower than own ship.

Spin Up — Start the gyro and computer system of a weapon in preparation for launch.

Spook — A spy, either from Naval Intelligence, CIA, National Security Agency, or a nameless U.S. Navy organization that sends riders onboard to gather electronic intelligence when the ship is on a special OP.

SSN — A fast attack submarine. Literally stands for Submersible Ship Nuclear, although most crews agree it means Saturdays, Sundays, and Nights.

Steam Leak, Major — When one of the large steam pipes ruptures in the engine room. Result is rapid cooking of engineering crew unless the leak is isolated using MS-1 or 2 valves. Steam leaks are also dangerous because they will overpower the reactor.

Steam Plant Control Panel (SPCP) — Console in the maneuvering room that monitors the steam plant. Has the large throttle wheel in front that controls the speed of the main engines. Manned by the throttle man

Stemplanes — Horizontal control surfaces at the tail of a submarine. Similar to the elevator tail surfaces of an aircraft, the stern planes cause the ship to rise or dive.

Sternplanesman — Enlisted watch stander in the Ship Control Party who controls the stern planes at the Ship Control Panel,

Sustainer Engine — The jet engine of a cruise missile. It sustains continued flight.

Target One — The designation of a sonar, radar, ESM, or visual contact as a target to be fired upon or tracked.

Target Zig — A term used to describe a target’s maneuver, either a turn, speed change, or both. Totally messes up a passive sonar firecontrol solution, requiring the ship to do more TMA to get a new solution. Note: the term zigzag” is never used in the modern submarine force.

TG’s (Turbine Generators) — The two turbines aft that turn the ship’s electrical generators and provide electrical power.

Throttle — The valves at the inlet of a steam turbine that determine how much steam flow the turbine will receive, and thus, the amount of power the turbine will produce (and its speed). Done at the Steam Plant Control Panel.

Throttleman — Nuclear-trained enlisted watch stander who monitors the steam plant at the Steam Plant Control Panel and positions the throttle based on the speed orders of the control room (which are transmitted by the engine order telegraph).

TMA (Target Motion Analysis) — Means of establishing a target solution using passive sonar. Own ship does maneuvers to generate speed first on one side of the line-of-sight, then on the other. Several maneuvers or legs can quickly find the target solution. Stealthy method of determining what the target is doing. The system is weak when the target is himself doing TMA. Result is a melee or PCO Waltz, where both submarines are maneuvering and neither knows what the other is doing. In worst case, submarines may need to shift to active sonar to determine range or clear datum until the target can be ambushed stealthily.

Towed Array — A passive sonar hydrophone array towed astern of a submarine on a cable up to several miles long. The array itself may be a thousand feet long. The array is used to detect narrowband tonals at extreme ranges.

Transient — A noise that is made by an enemy sub due to a temporary condition. Examples include dropped wrenches, boots, clomping on deckplates, slamming hatches, boiler blow downs rattling check valves etc.

Turbine — A mechanical rotating device with blades that converts the pressure energy, velocity energy, and internal (temperature) energy of a fluid steam (steam or combustion gases) into mechanical power.

Ultraquiet — Ship systems lineup done in a tactical situation such as a close trailing OP or in wartime. Only the quietest equipment is running. Offwatch personnel are required to be in bed. The galley, showers, laundry, movies, and maintenance of equipment are all prohibited to minimize noise. Hard soled shoes are prohibited. Lights are shifted to red to remind the crew of the need for silence. The ship is eerily quiet, as if run by ghosts.

Unit — A torpedo launched by own ship. As opposed to a torpedo (after sonar calls “torpedo in the water”) which is launched by a hostile submarine.

UWT (Underwater Telephone) — A sonar system using voice transmissions instead of tones or pulses, used for communication between two submarines that are fairly close.

VLS (Vertical Launch System) — New missile launch system on later Los Angeles class attack submarines, in which space in the forward group of ballast tanks has vertical torpedo tubes for launching Javelin cruise missiles. Allows torpedo room space to hold more torpedoes.

Wardroom — (1) Officer’s mess room Used also as a conference room, briefing room, reconstruction room, junior officer’s office, movie screening room, and place to converse, (2) The group of officers assigned to a ship.

Warshot — A weapon that is used to sink an enemy ship or inflict damage on a target, as opposed to an exercise shot.

Watch/Watchstation — A watch is an eight-hour shift during which a group of men at specific stations run the submarine. A watch station is a person’s station or assignment during the watch. Example: helmsman, Diving Officer, Chief of the Watch, Throttletieman, etc.

Watchsection — A collection of watch standers who run the submarine for an eight-hour shift called a watch.

Waterfall — A display of broadband sonar with bearing on the horizontal and time on the vertical. Broadband noise traces fall down the screen, looking like a waterfall.

XO (Executive Officer) — Officer who is second in command of a nuclear submarine, responsible to the captain for the administrative functioning of the ship. At battle stations the XO coordinates the firecontrol team and makes recommendations to the captain.

Zig — A term used to describe a target’s maneuver, either a turn, speed change, or both. Totally messes up a passive sonar firecontrol solution, requiring the ship to do more TMA to get a new solution. Note: the term zigzag” is never used in the modern submarine force.

Zulu — Same as Greenwich Mean Time.