He should constantly be rehearsing disaster—with foresight as his mentor.
He must have ingrained in his being the instinctive knowledge of PORT and STARBOARD, and what they mean. Not as words, but as effects.
He should be a part of the ship. The direction of her head, or the action of her engines, should be as natural to him as any movement of his own body.
This habit of mind enables an officer to act as quick as he can think—to do the right thing without an instant of hesitation.
Rules of the Road. The rules of the road should also be a part of his unconscious knowledge—particularly those rules relating to the prevention of collision at sea.
Many watch officers—familiar with the rules of the Road on the high seas, are lamentably lax when conning their vessel through narrow waters; here is where a great percentage of the accidents to vessels occur. Know the inland rules, the whistle signals; the proper side of the fairways to take; the buoys and marks.
What to Look Out for. The officer of the watch should keep his eyes pretty close to the water ahead; even in the sleepy times of peace. Look for patches of weed; and avoid them. Look for submerged wreckage; floating mines—for many years after the war—well whitened with bird droppings, and almost invisible in the wake of the sun.
And at the present time no merchantman needs to be warned to look out for periscopes, or what to do when he sees one—and remember they are camouflaged too. Do not be too quick to ram a periscope that is lying still. It may be a mine.
Vessels without Lights. Vessels in dangerous waters now run without the usual lights—in fact with no lights at all. This brings us to the question of redoubled vigilance of the keenest and most wide-awake type of watch officer. As vessels become more valuable, and more necessary—the necessity for the best kind of conning is self evident. Yet, due to our unfortunate lack of sea interest it is now necessary, to let down the bars and send back to the sea men who lack in the keenness and training that the situation demands, men who are simply so because of our faulty lack of foresight in the past.
The running without lights is sanctioned by the governments at war, as a necessary war measure and fog signals are omitted in war zones.