The Ship Officer’s Handbook covers all the basic information required by the deck officer on board ship, and will therefore be a valuable aid to those from cadet level and up as they progress in their marine careers. It will also be a handy comprehensive reference work for seagoing officers up to and including ships’ masters. The book has been compiled and organized to include all the information likely to be needed, and to make it quick and easy to locate a particular topic or task. A detailed Table of Contents is therefore supplemented by a quick-reference Index whose contents have been carefully selected.
The content is divided into several main chapters, such as Navigation, Seamanship, Stability, Marine Safety, Meteorology, etc. Many formulae are provided with proofs, and some are not, since we think they are unnecessary. Other chapters, such as Mathematics and Science, are considered as supporting chapters. For example, when reading the Navigation chapter, which involves a great deal of trigonometry, if you have any problem understanding the trigonometry, you can revert to Mathematics and Science chapters for further information on the topic. Similarly, in the Stability chapter, you will find many topics involving mathematics and physics, which the Mathematics and Science chapters will help to clarify for you.
Where the topics involve diagrams, plots or calculations, we have provided examples followed by multiple sample problems, whose solutions we have worked through and provided for users. The book is therefore more than just theory; it is a pragmatic instructional manual, complete with many kinds of real-world scenarios. It is also an extensive repository of information that covers topics from international flags and codes to safety regulations.