Watch is the Navies version of standing guard in the Army, Marines, or Air Force. Watchstanding, or watchkeeping, in nautical terms concerns the division of qualified personnel to operate a ship continuously around the clock. On a typical sea going vessel, be it naval or merchant, personnel keep watch on the bridge and over the running machinery.

The bridge watchstanders are a lookout and an officer or mate who is responsible for the safe navigation of the ship. Safe navigation means keeping the vessel on course and away from dangers as well as avoiding a collision from other shipping.

An engineering specialist ensures that running machinery continues to operate and run properly. Depending on the vessel, this can also be accomplished from the bridge. A secondary function of watchkeeping is the ability to respond to emergencies, be it on own ship or involving other ocean users.

Other watches are lookouts stationed around the outside of the ship. These people provide the ship with additional sets of eyes which scan the near by are for potential problems.
Watch standing can be one of the most boring jobs you will ever do in the Navy.

There are times during your 4 hours watch nothing happens and all you do is make sure the engine room is clean and running smoothly. Then other times you are running your butt off keeping things running or fixing a problem.

Regular watches are 4 hours in length and rotate. Most of the navy uses a three section rotation. For every 4 hour watch you have 8 hours off watch. However that does not mean you get to do nothing during your time off watch. Sometimes due to special circumstances the watch maybe longer than 4 hours.

During my deployment to the Red Sea there were only two of us qualified to stand duty oil king underway. So we had to stand 12 hours on and 12 hours off, or port and starboard watch. During my 12 hours off I had to get up all the time and refuel our helo.

Watch standing is also a great way to get your quals taken care of. One way to get the signatures you need is to spend time with people qualified in the area you want to get qualified in. Standing watch with them is a great way to do just that.