Voyage of the Devilfish

NEWTON A unit of force named after Sir Isaac Newton. Roughly one fifth of a pound.

NLACM (NUCLEAR LAND ATTACK CRUISE MISSILE) A cruise missile capable of attacking a land target using stellar or radar contour navigation. Examples include the Javelin (American weapon, built by Dynacorp International) and the SSN-X-27 (Russian, built by the Severomorsk Weapons Industrial Company Number 427).

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.

NOFORN A level of classification of information that indicates no transmission allowed to foreign nations.

NONVITAL BUS A misnomer for a group of electrical loads supplied off the same turbine generator breaker. While the loads are indeed vital, their loss will not immediately lead to loss of the ship. Examples include sonar and firecontrol, fast speed reactor main coolant pumps, and the wardroom video machine.

NOZZLE The opposite of a diffuser. Converts pressure energy of a fluid stream to velocity (kinetic energy).

OIL SHIELD TANK A tank surrounding a reactor compartment used to shield against neutron radiation since oil is an excellent shielding material and needs to be carried aboard for the emergency diesel generator anyway.

ONE THIRD SPEED First speed up from All Stop. Usually gives about 5 knots. Equivalent to the British Dead Slow Ahead.

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.

OP Operation or mission.

OPAREA A specific ocean area devoted to a particular exercise or operation. Some OPAREA’s are permanent, some are established only for one exercise.

OPERATING ENVELOPE A region of speed and depth defined for submarine operations. Outside the envelope, the ship could suffer a casualty and sink (the warranty is off). Example: going flank speed at test depth is outside the envelope, because a sternplane jam dive would send the ship below crush depth before she could check the speed and emergency blow to the surface. Operating outside the envelope is done only with captain’s permission.

OPERATIONAL MODE SELECTOR SWITCH A rotary switch on the Reactor Plant Control Panel that determines reactor operational mode, such as shutdown, normal, and cutback override.

OPERATIONS COMPARTMENT Forward compartment containing the control room, torpedo room, crew’s mess, and crew berthing.

OPREP 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.

OUTBOARD (1) Away from the centerline of the ship, toward the outside of the ship. (2) A small motor with a screw lowered from AMR 2 lower level; the outboard can be trained in any direction to give the ship thrust out from the pier when getting under way.

OUTCHOP Formally leaving one commander’s authority and entering another’s. Also has the meaning of leaving one ocean and entering another.

OVERHEAD Nautical term for ceiling.

OWN SHIP Firecontrol term for the firing ship.

OXYGEN GENERATOR See Bomb.

PARALLEL Electrical term, meaning connecting two bus AC load centers with a circuit breaker. The loads have to have the same frequency and be at the same point in the sine wave or else equipment can be damaged and fires can start.

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 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 only permitted with the captain’s permission, such as reactor coolant discharge, steam generator blowdowns, etc.

PATTERN CHARLIE The point in space and time when a CINC’s airborne command post is a safe distance from its base, so that it is no longer vulnerable to nuclear destruction. The CINC can then take over from an operational commander in a bunker.