The second book by Alexander Pokrovsky consists of stories he wrote in the navy—as they say, straight from the heat of the moment. Here is what he himself writes about his prose: “Filled with true dramatic intensity, not at all amusing, but fine and lyrical stories that happened to a certain officer, an unquestionable son of his country—and all sorts of coincidences that happened to his distant relatives and close friends, friends of relatives and relatives of friends, told by him.”
Naval terms
Starpmaster (starpom) — the senior assistant to the ship’s commanding officer. The commander runs the ship in battle and during the transit; the starpom runs things at other times. He knows everything and is responsible for everything.
Zam or zampol[it] (political officer) — deputy commander of the ship for political affairs. Responsible for the crew’s political training and morale—political classes, political briefings, reports on the state of discipline, showing films. In everything else, as a rule, useless. Maybe that’s why deputies aren’t loved.
НачПО — head of the political department, the boss over the political officers of all ships in the formation.
Kapraz — captain of the first rank, colonel, in land terms. Accordingly, kapdva and kaptri are lieutenant colonel and major. Captain-lieutenant is also by land terms, captain.
BC-1 — the combat navigation division—navigators and helmsmen.
BC-2 — missile and artillery combat unit.
BC-3 — mine and torpedo combat unit.
BC-4 — communications unit.
BC-5 — electromechanical BC — power plants and life-support systems.
BC-6 — aviation BC.
BC-7 — command control BC—radar stations and others.
Chemist or nachkhim — head of the ship’s chemical service. On a submarine he is also responsible, among other things, for air regeneration.
ПКЗ — floating barracks. I don’t know how it is on nuclear submarines, but on diesel ones there is one bunk for two or three sailors; at sea they stand watch and sleep in turns. In port, personnel live in barracks on shore or in a floating barracks.