On board a ship no matter where you go the floor is a deck, unless you are taking about a level. Confused? I’ll take care of that.

I will use a house to explain this and then put it into reference to a ship. In your house the ground level is just that. It could be considered zero, but you call is ground level. On a ship ground level is called the Main deck. The deck runs from bow to stern on some ships, others have a step down closer to the stern. The deck normally is where the officer’s quarters are as well as the quarter deck for the ship.

Your basement is below the ground level, you just call is a basement. On a ship anything below the main deck is called a deck. Each full deck below the main deck is numbered from 1 to what ever. The higher the number the lower the deck. This is where the engine rooms are, storage, and crew berthing compartments are.

In your house a second floor is called that. On a ship anything above the main deck is called a level. These are numbered 01-0??. The higher the number on a level the higher you are on the ship. The intakes for a Kidd Class DDG were located on the 04 level. This also happens to be on top of the bridge. The levels hold the combat systems, radio, bridge, officer’s room, and captains’ cabin.

So a Level is above the main deck and a deck is below the main deck. They are numbered so the higher the number the farther away from the main deck you are. Still confused? Don’t worry, its easy!