I.

Introduction

Navigation, science of determining the position of a ship, aircraft, or guided missile, and charting a course for guiding the craft safely and expeditiously from one point to another. The practice of navigation requires not only thorough knowledge of the science of navigation, but also considerable experience and judgement.

The science of nautical navigation is divided into four principal techniques: (1) so-called dead reckoning, which is derived from the phrase deduced reckoning, and estimates the approximate position of a craft solely from its course and speed; (2) piloting, which involves guiding the craft by frequent reference to geographical landmarks and navigational aids and by use of sounding; (3) celestial navigation, which uses the observation of celestial bodies to determine position on the surface of the Earth; and (4) electronic navigation, the most important and advanced system of navigation today, using radio and inertial electronic equipment. Aeronautical navigation is based on similar principles.