deck watch

American  

noun

1. (on a ship) a precision watch used on deck for navigational purposes to avoid disturbing the chronometer.

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Etymology

Origin of deck watch

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deck watch

Formerly, before an officer was allowed to stand a deck watch under way, he had to have two years at sea in addition to his four years' training at the Naval Academy.

From Time Magazine Archive

The navigating officer has to stand regular deck watch with the others while at anchor, and the executive is expected to be on board during the day and have charge of everything in general.

From The Story of a Strange Career Being the Autobiography of a Convict; an Authentic Document by Anonymous

The resource of the steamer's company was to sit on the upper deck, watch the swollen river with its waifs of uprooted trees and the banks green with the summer, chatting ourselves into intimacy.

From The Last Leaf Observations, during Seventy-Five Years, of Men and Events in America and Europe by James Kendall Hosmer

The deck watch saw ghosts walking apparently in mid-air over the moonlit bay, and claimed that he saw the white figure of a man pass through the solid hull-plates of the ship.

From The White Invaders by Ray Cummings

Yet only the same deck watch appeared in sight.

From The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless Or, the Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock