Relieving The OOD
There is also a very formal method for relieving the officer of the deck.
Assume that Lieutenant Smith is the officer of the deck and Lieutenant Doe is his replacement. Lieutenant Doe will check into the Combat Information Center (CIC) to determine any necessary actions that will be expected to occur during the watch, check the navigational track, read any orders, and determine the position of all nearby ships. After this is complete, Lieutenant Doe will state to Lieutenant Smith, "I am ready to relieve you, sir." Lieutenant Smith states, "I am ready to be relieved." He will then brief Lieutenant Doe on any additional information that the replacement should be made aware of, reconfirming the information that Lieutenant Doe has previously gained on his own. When Lieutenant Doe is fully satisfied, he then states, "I relieve you, sir." Lieutenant Smith then states, "I stand relieved. Attention in the pilot house (or bridge), Lieutenant Doe has the deck." An exchange of hand salutes would also be appropriate, depending on the ship. Lieutenant Doe would then announce, "This is Lieutenant Doe, I have the deck." (The use of the term sir in the manner indicated occurs without regard to the actual ranks held by the officers.)
Typically, the junior officer of the deck has the conn, (i.e. control of the engines and rudder). The junior officer of the deck is relieved in a similar manner. The deck and or the conn may be assumed by the captain, simply by announcing the fact or by issuing an order to the helmsman or lee helmsman. For example, the captain may state, "I have the deck and the conn," or "I have the conn," or "Right full rudder, all ahead flank." In the latter case someone (ordinarily the junior officer of the deck) in the pilot house (or bridge) will announce, "The captain has the conn." The conn may also be passed to someone else, for a particular purpose. While the captain may assume the conn, the officer of the deck may order the junior officer of the deck to pass him the conn, "Ensign Pulver, pass me the conn." Ensign Pulver will then state, "This is Ensign Pulver, Lieutenant Doe has the deck and the conn." Lieutenant Doe then announces, "This is Lieutenant Doe, I have the deck and the conn." In an emergency, the officer of the deck can, if he so chooses, assume the conn by announcing, for example, "This is Lieutenant Doe, I have the conn. Hard right rudder, all engines ahead flank." However, in most ships, during normal underway operations, it is generally considered "poor form" to request the JOOD to pass the conn, as a good OOD would be expected to direct the JOOD without the necessity of assuming the conn himself. Thus, the distinction between having the 'deck' and having the 'conn' remains.
These changes in status are marked down in the ship's log.
Read more about this topic: Officer Of The Deck
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“Of all the animals with which this globe is peopled, there is none towards whom nature seems, at first sight, to have exercised more cruelty than towards man, in the numberless wants and necessities with which she has loaded him, and in the slender means which she affords to the relieving these necessities.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)