Watch Standing

Watch standing the bane of a sailor’s life. One must work a normal 8 to 12-hour day, and then clean up, put on a clean uniform, and report for a four-hour watch, sometimes in the middle of the night. A normal daily routine and a normal night’s sleep become nonexistent.

Watch. A  watch is a vital job/position/station on a ship that must be constantly manned for the ship to operate effectively, efficiently, and safely.

Some watch stations are located in major operational areas of a ship, such as the bridge, engineering, navigation, etc. Some watch stations respond to emergencies, such as fire or flooding, be it on the ship or on other nearby ships. Some watch stations patrol the ship to insure security and good order and discipline, and to respond to disorders or criminal acts. Some types of watches include engineering watches (such as Engineering Officer of the Watch or Damage Control Watch Officer), navigational watches (such as Officer of the Deck, Boatswain's Mate of the Watch, or Helmsman), security watches (such as Officer of the Deck, Master-at-Arms, Sounding and Security, or Pier Sentry), or other types of watches (such as Anchor, Department Duty Officer, or Command Duty Officer).

Stand Watch. To stand a watch is to man a watch station for specific period of time.

Watch Stander. A watch stander is a person who has been trained and has been qualified to stand a particular watch station.