Foreword<br > Throughout the historyof warfare at sea， navigation has been an<br >important basic determinant of victory. Occasionally， new members<br >of the fraternity of the sea will look upon navigation as a chore to<br >be tolerated only as long as it takes to find someone else to assume<br >the responsibility. In my experience， such individuals never make good<br >naval officers. Lieutenant Hobbs has succeeded in bringing together<br >the information and practical skills required for that individual who<br >would take the first step down the road toward becoming a competent<br >marine navigator.<br > At the outset of this book， the author stresses the necessity for safe<br >navigation， but there is another basic tenet of sea warfare that this<br >book serves. The best weapons system man has ever devised cannot<br >function effectively unless it knows where it is in relation to the real<br >world， where it is in relation to the enemy， and where the enemy<br >is in relation to the real world. Not all defeats can be attributed to<br >this lack of information， but no victories have been won by those who<br >did not know where they were.<br > W. P. MACK<br > VICE ADMIRAL， U.S. NAVY<br >