Descriptionary

lifer one who makes the navy or marines a lifelong career.

Mayday a distress call.

minesweeping the technique of searching for and clearing mines from an area.

net sweep a two-ship sweep using a netlike device designed to collect or scoop up seabed or drifting mines.

obstructor a device laid with the goal of obstruct­ing mechanical minesweeping equipment.

ocean station ship a ship providing a number of services, including search and rescue, meteorological information, navigational aid, and communications facilities.

offshore patrol a patrol operating in coastal waters.

oiler a tanker equipped to replenish other ships at sea.

ordnance collective term for bombs, guns, ammuni­tion, and other pyrotechnic devices.

otter in naval mine warfare, a device that, when towed, displaces itself sideways to a predetermined distance.

Phalanx a close-in weapons system providing auto­matic, autonomous terminal defense against antiship cruise missiles. The system includes self-contained search and track radars, weapons control, and 20mm M-61 guns.

ping jockey slang for a sonar operator, after the sound signal made by sonar.

polliwog slang for a sailor who has yet to cross the equator.

q-message a classified message relating to naviga­tional dangers, navigational aids, mined areas, and searched or swept channels.

Q-ship a decoy ship.

rack a bed.

rack time sleep time.

redshirt on an aircraft carrier, an aviation crew member who loads bombs and ammunition and who wears a red shirt. Also, a member of a carrier crash team.

rising mine a mine having positive buoyancy that is released from a sinker by a ship influence or by a timing device.

romper a ship that has moved more than 10 miles ahead of its convoy and is unable to rejoin it.

rotorhead slang for a helicopter pilot or crew member.

salvo in naval gunfire support, a method of fire in which a number of weapons are fired simultaneously upon the same target.

shadower a maritime unit observing and maintain­ing contact with an object overtly or covertly.

sheaf in naval gunfire, planned lines of fire that pro­duce a desired pattern of bursts with rounds fired by two or more weapons.

shellback slang for a sailor who has crossed the equator.

ship influence in naval mine warfare, the mag­netic, acoustic, and pressure effects of a ship, or a minesweep simulating a ship, that is detectable by a mine.

ship's company the crew members and officers ded­icated to the running of a ship, as opposed to those in the air wing, assigned to aircraft.

snipes slang for onboard engineers, machinists, boiler technicians, and mechanics, who work primar­ily below decks.

sonar a sonic device used primarily for the detection and location of underwater objects.

sonobuoy a sonar device used to detect submerged submarines and to relay its information by radio.

Spec Ops special operations.

spotter an observer who reports the results of naval gunfire and who may also direct fire on designated targets.

spotting observing and communicating the accu­racy or inaccuracy of naval gunfire in order to make necessary adjustments.

squadron an organization of two or more divisions of ships.

squid slang for any sailor.

stateroom an officer's living quarters.

sterilizer a built-in device that renders a mine inop­erative after a certain amount of time.

TACAN Tactical Air Navigation, a radio navigation aid.

tin can slang for a destroyer.

Top Gun the Navy Fighter Weapons School at Fal- lon Naval Air Station in Nevada, where pilots learn fighter tactics.

torpedo defense net a net employed to close an inner harbor to torpedoes fired from seaward or to protect an individual ship at anchor or under way.

tractor group a group of landing ships in an amphibious operation that carries the amphibious vehicles of the landing force.

twidget slang for an electronics or computer tech­nician.

vampire code for an antiship cruise missile.

very deep draught ship a ship with a laden draught of 45 feet or more.

weather deck any deck exposed to the elements.

submarines

anechoic covering any covering material used to absorb sonar pulses to help prevent detection by an enemy vessel.

awash a partially submerged state in which only the conning tower can be seen above the surface.

ballast seawater flooded into wraparound or other tanks to allow a submarine to submerge or descend.

ballast tanks wraparound tanks or other tanks used to hold water or compressed air.

bathyscaphe a free-floating bathysphere with bal­last and depth controls.

bathysphere a spherical diving bell having windows for observation.