Watchstanding

Standing Order No. 2

1. The Ship operates a 1-in-3 Straight Fours Watch System, without a Dog Watch, and on a rotation of 28 days. This allows for a continuous sleeping period, relatively short Watches, down time to see to other duties, personal tasks, as well as leisure and rest, and a semi-stable schedule allowing more efficient internal timekeeping as Watch rotas are standardised and maintained for extended periods.

2. All Principal and Auxiliary Personnel, as well as Ancillary Personnel required for Watchkeeping, are assigned to one of three Watches, namely Alpha, Beta and Gamma Watches (also known as Aft, Noon and Fore Watches) as follows:

3. After 28 days, Alpha Watch switches to Gamma, Gamma to Beta and Beta to Alpha.

4. All Ancillary Personnel not required for Watchkeeping and all Science and Support Personnel are deemed Day Crew and normally operate from 0800 to 2000 with four hours of down time as regulated by their Head of Department. All Day Crew have an assigned Watch Party to muster when under Condition Two.

5. The Ship will operate one of three types of watches, based on operational condition. The Cruising Watch is usually the predominant watch, used when the Ship is underway and operating normally (Condition 3; Status White). The Ship does not have to be in motion for a Cruising Watch. The Combat Watch is used when combat or critical situations are likely to be imminent (Condition 2; Yellow Alert). The Anchor Watch is used when the Ship is berthed or otherwise stationary and tethered or connected to another ship or structure (Condition 4; Status Blue). Despite having no physical anchor to watch, the term has carried over from seafaring history and encompasses the entire Ship’s watch while alongside.

6. A normal Condition 3 Cruising Watch will consist of the following Watchstanders:

a) Officer of the Watch

b) Navigation Officer

c) Sensors Officer

d) Bridge Operations Officer

e) Helm Officer

f) Chief of the Watch

g) Sensors Operator

h) Bridge Operator

i) Helmsman

j) Security Officer

k) Security Chief and full Security Team

l) Duty Medic* and Duty Nurse*

m) Engineering Officer of the Watch* and 2 Engineering Watchkeepers*

n) 4 Transporter Operators*

o) Carrier Ops Controller*and Carrier Ops Operator*

*Denotes Ancillary Watchstanding Personnel only required for Night Watches in the absence of Day Crew.

7. The Anchor Watch under Condition Four inherently varies depending on the purpose and duration of each dock visit, as well as the general activity of the ship in that time. At its most minimum an Anchor Watch will consist of the following Watchstanders:

a) Officer of the Watch

b) Officer of the Quarterdeck

c) Petty Officer of the Watch

d) Security Chief

e) 2 Security Watchkeepers

f) Engineering Officer of the Watch

g) 2 Engineering Watchkeepers