Glossary

This is the glossary for the book The Flying, Fighting Weathermen of Patrol Wing Four by Paul E. Carrigan. Our focus group, which included people who were never in the military, indicated that these terms used in the book were confusing and needed definition.

ack-ack: anti-aircraft fire
ACS: Stands for Army Communication System.
admiral: a commander of a fleet or a naval officer of very high rank.
amidships: In the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or laterally.
ASD-1 radar
ASW: Stands for Anti-Submarine Warfare
AVD: Stands for Aviation Destroyer.
BAR: Stands for Browning Automatic Rifle, a family of American automatic rifles and light machine guns.
berth: The place where military people sleep.
blister: In the context of military aircraft, a blister is a protuberance from the aircraft's body, usually in the shape of a half-bubble, often used for gun mounts.
blitzkrieg: a method of offensive warfare characterized by striking a swift blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces. It includes armored tanks and air power.
Bofors guns
BOQ: Bachelor Officers' Quarters
bore-sight: Also boresight and bore sight. Adjusting a gun's sight so the fired bullets land on target. In the case of multiple guns, adjusting all gun barrels so their bullets converge on a fixed point that's at an optimum distance.
bow vs. bows: On large ships, it's customary to refer to a ship's bow in the plural, possibly because sailors refer to the port bow and the starboard bow.
BuAer: Stands for Bureau of Aeronautics
called away: Refers to when a boat is launched. The boat is usually a small boat (and sometimes called a "launch") that carries a dozen or more passengers.
CAP: Combat Air Patrol
carrier force: Aircraft carriers do not travel anywhere alone. They are escorted by numerous other ships and, possibly, a submarine or two for protection.
cavitation: In the context of submarine propellers, the creation of air-filled bubbles that, when burst, create shock waves in the water that can be detected by enemy listening devices.
Chernofski Bay: This book makes frequent references to Chernofski Bay but the bay is also known as Chernofski Harbor. Additionally, because the Aleutian Islands were part of Russia in the past, you may see one of these spellings: Chernovskoy, Chernoffski, Chernoffsky, Chernovskii, Chernovskoi, Chernovskoy, and Tchernofskaia.
chine: A sharp change in angle in the cross section of a hull. A boat with a pronounced keel has more of a chine that a boat with a rounded bottom, for example.
civvies: civilian clothes
coaming: a raised border around a hatch to keep out water
col: A col, also called saddle point or neutral point, is in meteorology, the point of intersection of a trough and a ridge in the pressure pattern of a weather map.
COMINCH: Stands for Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.
conning: The act of being in control of a ship's movements. The person who controls the ship's movements is said to "have the conn".
coxswain
cryptographer: A person who encrypts and decrypts messages. In the case of WWII Navy radio operators, "cryptographer" may not have been in their job title but they did the work of one.
DE: destroyer Escort ship
decipher: To convert a message that has been encrypted to its original form.
decrypt: same as decipher
dogged: When a hatch is dogged, it means the hatch is closed and prevented from accidentally opening using a locking mechanism operated by a lever or wheel.
en route: during the course of a journey; on the way. Pronounced "on root"
encipher: convert a message into a cipher so it may be transmitted or moved securely. synonymous with encrypt.
encrypt: same as encipher
ensign: A commissioned officer of the lowest rank in the US Navy, ranking above chief warrant officer and below lieutenant.
fatham: A unit of depth below the surface of the sea. Equal to six feet.
feather merchants: Someone with a cushy job or without combat experience.
feathered props: When an propeller-driven aircraft must shutdown an engine inflight, the pitch of the propeller is adjusted so that a minimum of it's surface area is facing in the direction of flight. This reduces drag.
flank speed: A ship's maximum speed that is normally not used unless there is great urgency or the ship is in danger.
fleet boat: A submarine capable of operating together with other ships in a fleet. It must have the speed to keep up with surface vessels it is helping to protect. Therefore, S-boats are not fleet boats because they are too slow.
flew the weather: In the context of the WWII Aleutian aerographers, it refers to them flying on patrols so they could observe weather firsthand. In the case of PBY patrols, they also served as blister gunners.
flight skins: Additional pay for aviators who fly in war zones or in hazardous situations.
following sea: refers to a wave direction that is similar to the heading of a waterborne vessel under way.
fubar: An acronym meaning f***ed up beyond all repair
general: The title and rank of a senior army officer.
General Quarters (GQ): a condition of maximum readiness of a warship for action. Every member of the crew is at assigned battle stations.
greenhouse: Refers to the transparent enclosure (canopy) covering the cockpit. Note that some aircraft do not have canopies.
Guinea Pullman: The Petty Officers compartment on a ship.
guns that would bear: Refers to guns that could be aimed at a target. A gun that can't be aimed at a target because of an obstruction can't bear on the target.
gyro room: The room on a ship that contains the gyroscopic compass.
in the clear: When used to describe the sending of a message, this refers to sending the message without enciphering it. A message would be sent in the clear if it was urgent and couldn't wait for the message to be enciphered.
isobar: A line on a map connecting points having the same atmospheric pressure at a given time or on average over a given period.
JANFU: Stands for Joint Army Navy Fuck Up
Japan’s Inland Sea: The body of water that separates three of Japan's four main islands: Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. Access to this sea from the Pacific Ocean is via two channels or straits: the Kii Channel and the Bungo Channel. The inland sea allows access to the Sea of Japan to the west via the Kanman Strair.
lead the target
lieutenant: A commissioned officer in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy.
lighter: A type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships.
LORAN: Stands for Long Range Navigation. It involved several radio transmitters that were geographically dispersed. A ship or aircraft with a LORAN receiver determined their position by triangulating the headings to two or more LORAN transmitters. The LORAN receiver displayed information on a cathode ray tube.
LST: Stands for Landing Ship, Tank. An LST is an amphibious ship that carries cargo right up to shore, thus requiring no docks, piers, or lightering. An LST could carry troops and their materiel enabling amphibious assaults. Since LSTs can get very close to shore, their hulls have flat bottoms.
materiel: refers to military supplies, equipment, and weapons.
MATS
: Military Air Transport Service. Also Military Air Transport Command.
mech: On a PBY, the mech was the crew member who monitored the engines from his position just below the parasol wing.
mess: The place where military people dine.
millibar: A bar is a metric unit of pressure. A millibar is one-thousandth of a bar. It is equivalent to 100 pascals of air pressure, where pascal is the now preferred unit of measure.
motor whaleboat: A whaleboat is an open boat that was used for catching whales. Add an engine, a propeller and a rudder and you have a motorized whaleboat that the Navy used for transporting sailors and cargo.
nacelle: The aircraft engine housing.
NAS: Stands for Naval Air Station
National Schools: A private company that promoted radio and electronics correspondance courses to WWII veterans.
NOB: Stands for Naval Operating Base
Norden bombsight: A device that allowed a bombadier to sight a target and then told the bombardier when to drop bombs on the target. It was developed primarily for medium altitudes and slow speeds of small Navy flying boats, such as the PBY bomber. But when it was used in faster planes flying at higher altitudes, its accuracy suffered. Still, it was the most prolific bombsight used during WWII.
oiler: Also known as a replacement oiler, it carries petroleum products to military ships and bases. The oiler that's mentioned in the book carried 70,000 barrels of fuel.
OOD: Stands for Officer On Duty
ordnance: Refers to the bullets, shells, and other projectiles fired by guns of various types.
orographic lifting: Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation.
Panzer: Panzer is the German word for tank but a specific German tank was also called the Panzer. The Panzer IV model was the most used tank during WWII.
PATSU: Patrol Service Unit, which served as aircraft maintenance and service units for Navy aircraft.
picket line: A picket line (in Navy parlance) are ships placed on a defensive line to provide timely warning and screening against advancing enemy ships, submarines, and possibly aircraft.
picket ship: A ship that's part of a picket line.
pic boat: refers to a submarine
PPC: Stands for Patrol Plane Commander.
RAOB: Radio meteorograph sounding is more commonly known as radiosonde sounding. It involves sending an instrument package, called a radiosonde, into the atmosphere using a lighter than air balloon. Data from the instruments are sent by radio to a receiver on the ground.
radiosonde: an instrument package meant to be carried into the atmosphere by a helium or hydrogen-filled balloon. The package contains devices for measuring temperature, humidity, and air pressure whose readings are transmitted by a small radio transmitter.
revetment: A barricade of earth or other material set up to provide protection from blast or to prevent planes from overrunning when landing.
rhumb line: A rhumb line appears as a straight line on a Mercator projection map. It intersects all meridians at the same angle.
rudder amidships: Place the rudder at zero angle thus steering the ship (boat) straight.
salvo: A simultaneous firing of weapons in a battle.
seadrome: A floating airdrome serving as an intermediate or emergency landing place for airplanes.
screw: Another name for a propeller.
screw guard: Also called a propeller guard. A metal framework mounted above and overhanging the propeller to protect the tips of the propeller blades from falling objects from above.
scrubbed: cancelled
service ceiling: The maximum usable altitude of an aircraft.
shelter-half: Synonymous with pup tent. A simple tent that may have open ends.
shifting the flag: In the Navy context, it refers to when the commander transfers command from one ship to another. An obvious example is when the ship carrying the commander is sunk; the command must be moved to another ship. It can also refer to the commander moving his command to a land-based post.
shoaling water: When ocean waves reach shallow water near land, they slow down and the distance between waves is reduced. The wave height tends to increase as well.
SOC: The SOC acronym likely stood for Scout Observation Cruiser. During WWII, most SOCS were the Curtiss Seagull. This Naval Encyclopedia page covers the subject in great detail.
squadron: Fighter squadrons typically consist of between 12 to 24 aircraft and their crews. Two or more squadrons constitute a group and two or more groups constitute a wing.
stall speed: Stall speed is the minimum airspeed needed for an airplane to produce enough lift to keep itself in level flight.
stanchion: Vertical deck posts used for a variety of purposes. The book mentions stanchioms used as gun mounts, for example.
steam up: When used in a sentence like, "These ships couldn't be moved because they did not have steam up." it means that the ships' boilers weren't producing enough steam for propulsion. It normally takes hours to get steam up in a large ship. If done too quickly, damage to the boiler can result. When a ship must be ready to move quickly, the boilers keep a "head of steam" by firing the boilers for about 10 minutes every hour.
steerageway: the minimum speed required for proper response to the helm.
Striker: A junior enlisted man in the U.S. Navy who has declared an occupational specialty and performs the duties of that specialty but as an apprentice. Once a striker advances in grade, he or she becomes a petty officer.
Stuka: short for Sturzkampfflugzeug (dive bomber). Stuka was the name given to the Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber. Stuka's were equipped with ram-air sirens known as Jericho trumpets, that were a propaganda symbol of German air power. Here's what it sounded like when it the Stuka dove to release its bombs:
sue for peace: When a warring party initiates a process to halt hostilities and negotiate a peace.
toredo worm: Not actually a worm. It is a clam-like bivalve mollusc that bores through the wooden hulls of ships and underwater piers and pilings.
Torpex: Short for torpedo explosive. It was used as the explosive payload in torpedoes and depth charges in World War II.
tracers: Bullets or cannon-fired projectiles that have a pyrotechnic flare material built-in that burns brightly when fired. This illuminates the bullet's path so the gunner can see whether his aim is accurate.

U-boat: A German WWII submarine used primarily against merchant shipping. Here's the German pronounciation of U-boat:
USAAF: stands for United States Army Air Forces. It was the primary aerial warfare component of the U.S. armed forces and was part of the Army. The National Security Act of 1947 created the United States Air Force that became the primary aerial warfare component of the U.S. armed forces.
weathered out: Refers to the weather that's so bad, planes are not able to land at their designated airfields or ships are not able to return to their designated ports.
Williwaws: a sudden blast of wind descending from higher altitudes downward to the sea. They are often localized to a relatively small area, thus being more dangerous to slow-moving aircraft; fast moving aircraft tend to traverse the area more quickly.
wingover: A wing-over is a steep climb followed by a turn without rolling. The turn eventually results in the aircraft diving. When the pilot raises the nose, the aircraft is moving in the opposite direction from the start of the maneuver.
yeoman: Yeomen in the U.S. Navy are typically responsible for clerical and secretarial work. They write/type letters, notices, directives, forms and reports.
Yippy boats: Short for Yard Patrol Boats. During World War II, these were fishing boats (primarily tuna boats) converted for use as patrol craft that were often used in picket lines to detect enemy ships.
Yoke boat: A nickname for the PBY Catalina.
zero-zero visibility: In aviation, zero-zero implies very limited visibility. The first zero suggests that a pilot could see no further than the length of the runway or less. It could mean that visibility didn't extend beyond the cockpit windscreen. The second zero suggests that the pilot could see zero feet above the runway surface or a bit higher. The numbers are more meaningful when they're not zero. The first number is in miles and is the horizontal visibility. The second number is in feet and is the vertical visibility or "ceiling".