"Match Bearings and Shoot"

[TopTorp '92]

Originally Posted by Henson

Submariners are big on rote, and doing things the same way every time. There are a lot of checklists, and a lot of verbatim procedures and communications, especially when we are doing something important to our survival.

When we prepare to shoot a weapon, there's a prepared script that each station follows, informing the Approach Officer (Captain) that the Ship, Solution, and Weapon are all ready before we shoot. Once that is settled, the captain has a few options when it comes to the shot, but it really comes down to this: He can obtain a final bearing on the contact and shoot ("Final Bearing and Shoot"), he can match current sonar bearings to the contact and shoot ("Match Bearings and Shoot"), or, if you are shooting an underwater contact that you have a good fire control solution on, he will shoot on the bearing of the generated system solution ("Shoot on Generated Bearing").

Hope this helps.

Most excellent, sir.