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

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 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 Hosmer, James Kendall

Only one officer at a time kept deck watch, and only one engineer officer down below.

From Dave Darrin After The Mine Layers by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)

If there was one thing on which the lieutenant prided himself, it was upon the strictness of his deck watch.

From The Submarine Boys on Duty Life of a Diving Torpedo Boat by Durham, Victor G.

Eph and Williamson had slept through the evening, after supper, and were now to take the night watch tricks, the machinist's deck watch beginning at once and lasting until four in the morning.

From The Submarine Boys for the Flag Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam by Durham, Victor G.