General quarters

Audio snippet of a general quarters drill aboard USS Nimitz in the early 2010s

General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal that all hands (everyone available) aboard a ship must go to battle stations as quickly as possible.[1]

According to The Encyclopedia of War, formerly "[i]n naval service, the phrase "beat to quarters" indicated a particular kind of drum roll that ordered sailors to their posts for a fight where some would load and prepare to fire the ship's guns and others would arm with muskets and ascend the rigging as sharpshooters in preparation for combat."[2]

Aboard U.S. Navy Vessels, the following announcement would be made using the vessel’s public address system (known as the 1MC):

“General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your battle stations. The direction of travel is up and forward on your starboard side, down and aft on your port side.”

References

  1. ↑ Cutler, Deborah W. Cutler, Thomas J. (2005). Dictionary of naval terms (6th ed.). Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591141501.
  2. ↑ David, Saul (2012). The Encyclopedia of War. Dorling Kindersley Ltd. p. 396. ISBN 978-1409386643.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.