Posted on 05/04/2015 10:07:22 AM PDT by incredulous joe
gun decking = pencil whipping, i.e. filling out the paperwork without performing the actual task(s)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gundeck
This is what it meant when I was in the Navy.
Thanks
Thanks, we were discussing the fact that my son was struggling to complete his Eagle requirement for BSA and he mentioned that a lot of boys today simply “gundeck” the process toward the end. I knew what he meant, but always love the colorful navy descriptions.
The area on old British warships below the upperdeck, to give a false perception of the actual amount of ammuniton onboard. This is supposedly how the term was derived.
Is this saying that they'd display a bunch of powder and shot on the gun deck during some sort of official visit, but have (nearly) empty magazines?
One of the required tasks for the navigator was the taking of noon sights. This requires that the sun be brought down to the horizon using a sextant. This gives the ship's latitude.
The horizon is not visible from the gun deck. Therefore, if you just used the tables to get the sun's or a star's altitude rather than actually taking the sights, you have "gun decked" your sights.
Hope this helps.
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I took it to mean a below deck that actually had no cannons, but made to look like it did have cannons. A way to fool a distant enemy ship.
It does and I just think the slang and the point of origin is fascinating stuff.
gun decking = pencil whipping.
Good boy. Now here’s some geedunk and pogey bait for you, mate.
Here are 2 useful links:
Navy Acronyms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Navy_acronyms#C
Navy Slang:
goatlocker.org/resources/nav/navyslang.pdf
She had (has?) real guns behind all those ports.
I guess putting fake guns behind some of those ports might fool a distant enemy ... until the shooting starts.
gun decking = recording false data, as in maintenance checkoff lists or test data results.
Back in the 17th century, that was a common tactic among merchant ships that sailed in pirate-infested waters. But as you noted, a pirate willing to take a little risk could find out for sure.
Those ships made for a “green” navy, that was “energy independent” ...
Not terribly “sustainable” though ... Mother Gaia weeps for the destruction of the sacred “old growth forests”.
Pirating was an inherently risky business. That potential target over there ... is she an armed merchantman or a Sloop o' War? A pirate bet his life on guessing correctly.
None of which brings me any closer to knowing exactly what, during the Age of Sail, was literally meant by 'gundecking'.
Ships of the Line had guns on two or three decks. However, frigates and ship sloops had guns on only one deck, and what was called the gun deck had no guns mounted.
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