The last thing you wanted to hear on the bridge underway was, “This the Captain and I have the Conn!”,”Hard Right or Hard Left Rudder and All Back Full!” “Brace yourselves!”
The response was loud and clear, Aye/Aye Captain, “Rudder Hard Right or Hard Left and All Back Full!” Sir! Then, a soft whisper “Oh $hit!”
USN diesel sub, 1951, cruising on the surface, serving the mid-watch. Rotate between helm, radar, port/starboard lookout every hour.
I'm on the conning tower radar and pick up a blip some miles away. Notify the deck officer, who is a newbie ensign and a real screw-up. (On one routine dive he hit the collision alarm instead of the klaxon and scared the yell out of all of us.)
My dad was in the merchant service and told me if the bearing of another ship was constant, you were on a collision course. The bearing of this blip stayed constant.
I speeded up reporting the bearing and range, repeatedly stating the bearing was constant (hint, hint) as the blip closed. At 1,000 yards, I was eyeballing the hatch to topside and figuring out how much time I had to make it. FINALLY, the officer calls the Captain with something like, "Captain, I have a contact at 1,000 yards . . ." and so help me, at that point the skipper was halfway up the ladder.
IIRC, "Right full rudder, starboard back full, port ahead flank . . ." Engine bells ringing in response, deck shaking under your feet, getting re-acquainted with Jesus. It was an interesting watch. The ensign soon disappeared.