I read Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent book on the Ex Ex, and how the Navy was using the 1834 charts for the Tarawa invasion. What was the BNAV doing in the early 1900s? In 1942, the flagship South Dakota got her hull gouged by an uncharted reef. She wasn't the only one to run aground in the Solomons campaign. We rarely mention the most important thing about our ships... the navigation is more important than the guns, speed, displacement, and armor. Those are useless if your ship is stuck or sinking on a pinnacle.
I read Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent book on the Ex Ex, and how the Navy was using the 1834 charts for the Tarawa invasion.
What was the BNAV doing in the early 1900s?
In 1942, the flagship South Dakota got her hull gouged by an uncharted reef. She wasn't the only one to run aground in the Solomons campaign.
We rarely mention the most important thing about our ships... the navigation is more important than the guns, speed, displacement, and armor.
Those are useless if your ship is stuck or sinking on a pinnacle.