[CW] Navy Radiomans Mid Watch

Fri Oct 25 12:38:42 EDT 2013

Radiomen had three watches, Day, Eve, and Mid.  Other (non-hacker) ratings 
could only handle 2 or 4 hour watches, so they had 7 watch periods

0000-0400 Mid
0400-0800 Morning
0800-1200 Forenoon
1200-1600 Afternoon
1600-1800 First Dog
1800-2000 Second Dog
2000-2400 First

-----Original Message----- 
From: Rick Dettinger
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 4:30 PM
To: CW Reflector
Subject: Re: [CW] Navy Radiomans Mid Watch

I would have thought that would be the Mid and Morning Watch's but I was not 
a Navy Radioman.
I wanted to be but I couldn't pass the physical.  Too colorblind.
But, the Army didn't care.  I was in danger of getting drafted in 1964, so, 
having been turned down by the other branches, I joined the National Guard.
They said I could go to radio school but when I got to Basic, I was told 
that I was going to cook school.  When I protested, the Sargent told me it 
was a case of mind over matter.
He said I don't mind and you don't matter.  So,I went to cook school at the 
late Ft. Ord.
But, I do have a Chelsea "Ships Bell Clock" on my mantel.  Its telling me 
that it is now three bells in the Forenoon Watch

73,
Rick  K7MW

On Oct 25, 2013, at 9:11 AM, Radio K0HB wrote:

> Except Radiomen stood 8 hour watches, so the Mid was from 2345 to 0745 
> (you always relieved 15 minutes early).
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Rick Dettinger
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 3:23 PM
> To: CW Reflector
> Subject: Re: [CW] Navy Radiomans Mid Watch
>
> And, Mid Watch refers to the Watch that goes from midnight to 4 AM local 
> time.
>
> 73,
> Rick Dettinger  K7MW
> In Western Washington, where its just past eight bells in the Morning 
> Watch.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 25, 2013, at 8:11 AM, Radio K0HB wrote:
>
>> I could tell you those things, Ken, but then I'd have to kill you. 
>> <grin>
>>
>> Not really.  I'll treat your points one at a time:
>>
>> "Broadcast":  This refers to the Fleet Broadcast, a one-way circuit that 
>> all ships copied.  It was the means that record traffic ("messages" as 
>> opposed to tactical real time communications) was delivered to ships. 
>> You copied this circuit 24/7/365.  Originally this was a CW circuit (the 
>> "Fox" broadcast you may have heard of).  In the 1950's it switched to 
>> RTTY, and eventually to FDM.
>>
>> "Beach fivers":  The "beach" is the shore station in a ship-to-shore 
>> circuit.  Circuit condition is expressed in QSA/QRK (our equivalent of 
>> the ham RST) "Fivers" is short hand for QSA5/QRK5, or "loud and clear".
>>
>> "COMBAT":  The Combat Information Center, also often called "CIC".  They 
>> were a big customer of radio circuits, tactical voice circuits and NTDS 
>> data circuits.
>>
>> "Oboes":  Military messages were assigned a precedence, depending on how 
>> urgent they were, and that precedence had a letter designator.  There 
>> were 6 levels of precedence; Deferred = "M", Routine = "R", Priority = 
>> "P", Operational Immediate = "O", Emergency = "Y", and Flash = "Z".  The 
>> term "Oboe" referred to the "O" precedence designator.
>>
>> 73, de Hans, K0HB
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ken Brown
>> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 6:11 AM
>> To: CW Reflector
>> Subject: Re: [CW] Navy Radiomans Mid Watch
>>
>> I'm not an old time Navy RM, and I still enjoyed it. I have a few
>> questions about some of the terminology. I'd like to understand it
>> better. In this context, what does "broadcast" mean?
>> What are "beach fivers"? Is "COMBAT" an acronym for something? Oboes?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Ken N6KB
>>
>>
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