Williamson Turn

He should have been thankfull it was just his head.

#19 For the non seafarers there are 3 very important calls at sea,in order of priority are Mayday, Pan Pan Pan Pan ,and Securatay Securatay , A mayday call however is assumed to come from the transmitter of the message , if it is someone else sending for the vessel in distress must be followed by the word Relay. JS ...

My friend, Bob Cobb (Radio Officer on Norwegian tanker, ' South America' 6th April 1944) told me that SOS was not used in Wartime.
SSSS = Submarine attack AAAA = Aircraft attack. QQQQ= Armed Surface Raider.
Apparently 4 letters were quicker and easier to transmit
Regards
Brenda
PS . Why was it called ' Williamson Turn'? Presumably named after Williamson; but who was he ?
My parents called me ,' The Why child'. Always need to know !

#24 Today and for a number of years radio telegraphy has been on its way out , today very few ships carry radio officers they are now under the umbrella of electronics officers those that stayed on. Voice Radio today is the in thing , that and computer in line with email communications. The Williamson turn was named after its inventor if can be called that , who was I think a Norwegian. In theory whatever side the man overboard went over was best to alter course that way and then after so many seconds go hard over the other way and come back onto your reciprocal course which theoretically brought you back into your own wake. Today on most of the vessels With azimuth thrusters and twin screws this could be done in the ships own length . I used it if the ship was fitted in bad weather to make a lee for boat launching and recovery , a ship turning in its own length and going through 360 degrees flattened the seas long enough usually to do this. Cheers JS
PS in theory again if altering to the side the man went overboard swung the stern away. From him and in some measure swung the propellor away from him that was if of course you saw him go overboard. I think the change of signals during wartime as you say weren’t so much for speed of transmission but to give those receiving them. A fast idea of what danger the the ship was involved in and to cut down on the length of description , it’s faster to send 3 letters than it is 4. But maybe not time to discuss what form of attack was taking place. Regards JS

That's very clear, John
Thank you
No more questions.................for the time being !
Brenda

Hello John
Looked up John Williamson USVR. Invented the turn in 1943.
Had to find out !
Brenda

Was he an American with Norwegian ancestry ? Someone in the long distant past mentioned Norway . JS

Dr. Google didn't give me any more info'.
Brenda

The Williamson turn is a maneuver used to bring a ship or boat under power back to a point it previously passed through, often for the purpose of recovering a man overboard. It was named for John Williamson, USNR, who used it in 1943 to recover a man who had fallen overboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbYpDYMjfpo