The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-03-24

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Sailing the Arctic Ocean In the
ana by God"-navigation by dead
winter means navigation by Guess
reckoning.
Navigators generally are trained
to find their position by the sun, the
stars, or by o triangulated AK" on
lighthouses or known landmarks. In
the Arctic they may 60 days at q
time without O sight Of sun, stars,
or landmarks.
That reduces navigation to o sys-
tenn Of drawing o line from the last
known position, "2S minutes. on
course $50 at l6 knots, 48 minutes
on course 240 at IS knots, two hours
10 minutes on course 100 at Is knits,"
Allow an estimated amount for drift,
deduct Q known percentage Of Zig
tagging, hope that you're right
and then ask the navigators Of ac-
companying ships where they think
they are.
Yet at one point on patrol, after
more than 30 hours by dead reckon.
Ing without o sight--and two-thirds
Of that time q full gale-we were
ordered to rendezvous with other
British destroyerg at q given posi-
ton at noon. We met them-at 1857
o. MI
Took Sights During Battle
The British formation which
routed heavy German units east Of
Bear Island on New Years eve re-
ported that during their entire time
north Of the Arctic Circle. the sun
at Its highest elevation was always
at least 6is degrees below the hori-
ION. AS q result, star sights to check
dead reckoning became invaluable.
No wonder the navigator Of the
flagship took advantage Of pauses
between gunfire to take sights on
stars which had suddenly come out
during the battle. On many ships in
this area standing orders are that
the navigator Is to be called day or
night whenever enough stars are
visible to allow the position to be
calculated.
Most of the time, however, there's
a starless dark gray that is sky. and
q darker gray that is sea, with the
horizon q vague blending Of the
two. For the brief period Of day"
the sky turns lighter gray and the
sea a sullen black. There are no
blues or greens In the winter Arctic.
Possibly to compensate for this,
from the Arctic Circle south to the
British Isles nights may often be
brilliant. A thin, cold moon CLEANS
In q clear sky glowing with northern
lights, which flicker almost as
though signaling. then thrust out a
luminous finger which reaches for a
new portion Of the sky. Through
the finger the lights now In queer
panoply Of cold colorS until the en-
tire patch Of light has shifted its
position, q giant celestial imitation
Of amoeba under the microscope.
The navigator probably would
trade you all the northern lights,
with the moon thrown In, for a de-
pendable set Of stars to stay with
him north of the Arctic Circle. With
wartime's minefields and rapidly
shoaling waters as hazards in max
ing q landfall, even the best dead
reckoning leaves room for doubt.
Even DiGIleuIt In Midday
Even In the midday light, it's diff
flcult enough. At one time when
the destroyer In which I made an
extensive Arctic patrol was making
a port in Iceland below the Arctic
Circle,I learned how deceiving fog
and half-light can be. We seemed
barely 800 yards from shore, where
I could see a white pillar some -
or IS feet high. Actually we were
more than a mile offshore, and the
charts showed the pillar" to be
light house more than 30 feet hight
We had CROPPED in for our land
fall in the dark Of night, navigating
to q certain extent by the ocean bed.
A sounding device told the navigator
when we passed the 1O0-fathOm
fathom depth. Between those two
depth. and when we passed the So
times, he knew, we had covered Q
known distance on known course.
He was then able TO fix our position
fairly accurately by locating on his
charts the particular section Of
coast where that information would
At the wavy irregular lines marking
the SO and 100-fathom depths
around the coast.
Once located. north OF the port
we sought, we ran into within Wis
ibility distance Of the high bleak
cliffs separating the Icelandic fj0rds.
and felt Cur Way down tha eaaEt ~