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Goin' Home Turns by Dick Phillips Those who remember diesel boats will recall that the electricians at the cubicle in the maneuvering room were the guys who actually controlled the engines and motors while the boat was under way. Each of the engine telegraph orders; standard, full, etc., ahead or back, were proscribed as to the number of turns of the propeller shafts required to fill the order. Once the electricians on watch had set the path of the power from the engines to the motors and/or batteries, they'd adjust rheostats to provide the appropriate number of shaft RPM called for. Under normal circumstances, the boat's speed through the water was pretty well the same at any specific order..... with one major exception. If the bow of the boat was pointed anywhere in the world, speeds remained constant. However, when the bow of the boat was pointed toward home port, all bets were off! Each time the watch changed, every four hours in those days, the oncoming watch in the maneuvering room felt it necessary to 'jog' the rheostats just a touch to add a turn or two to the propeller shafts. After a few days of this 'jogging' the boat would be making good several knots more than was called for by the standard number of turns ordered. Diesel boats used to transit on the surface and would usually make a trim dive from time to time. The trim dive would bring things back to normal and the whole exercise would start all over again once back on the surface. It was probably just as well that the trim dive was made periodically. Without it, the speed would probably have gone on increasing until something broke! I'd guess "going home turns" still exist on the nukes. The boats are a lot different, but I don't imagine the sailors have changed a whole lot!
Dick Phillips dick_phillips@telus.net
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