What exactly are GENERAL QUARTERS, and is the Navy the only one who have it??

Answer 1

In modern navies, a call to General Quarters is made over the ship's intercom system. It is a time to pass news and information from higher ranking sailors to lower ranking ones.

When the call to General Quarters (GQ) is made, the crew prepares the ship to join battle. Off-duty or sleeping crewmembers report to their stations and prepare for action. Watertight doors between bulkheads are shut and security is increased around sensitive areas such as the bridge and engineering rooms.

While the term 'General Quarters' is used in navies such as the United States Navy, other navies, such as the Royal Navy use the term 'Action Stations'. In French, the term is Aux postes de combats ("to combat stations"), and used to be branle-bas de combat, literally meaning that sleeping hammock should be cleared off the gunnery deck, foiled, and piled on the upper borders of the ship as protection for the crew.

Historically, a drum pattern called the beat to quarters was played to signal the crew. This involved clearing the main gun deck(s) by taking all extraneous gear and equipment and stowing it down in the hold. All the cannon were primed with gunpowder and loaded with the proper type of ammunition (roundshot, chainshot, barshot, canister shot/caseshot, or grapeshot). It was common during times of war for all ships to beat to quarters shortly before dawn, as enemies might be sighted during sunrise. Drum beats were replaced in the 20th Century by klaxons or bells.

General Quarters, or Beating to Quarters, is called at any time in which the ship or crew may face danger beyond that which is necessarily expected of them in a life at sea. Quarters are called during storms, battles, or random sightings in the fog. The general philosophy is that of preparedness. If a ship is to face the danger of the elements, and should happen upon an enemy, it is much better to be prepared.

All crew members are assigned their general quarters upon being accepted as a crewmember aboard even a modern naval vessel. When GQ is called, that crewmember must drop and stow whatever it is that they are doing and report to the general quarters station. Then a roll will be called, and duty assignments made then, based on the nature of the situation requiring a GQ alarm.

The original bell signal for Beating to Quarters was a rapidly rung bell 5 times, at 5 second repeats. Today, the GQ alarm is a rapidly repeating electronic klaxon bell rung in the same or similar manner. There are different klaxon signals for different conditions. Such as chemical warfare, don gas masks is a high pitched sold whistle in the US Navy, and a Star Trek "Red Alert" type Klaxon for combat stations, battle ensuing. The orignal "Beat to Quarters" drum signal was a three second drum roll with two beats in between the rolls. IE tap tap roll tap tap roll, &C.

Answer 2

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I spent 25 years in the Navy... and I seem to recall there were a few other Navy folks around... so yes, some do. Actually, as far as I know, draftees wind up in the Army. If that's true, the only way into the Navy is by joining. This is going to sound trite, but I believe it to be true. The military, whichever branch is going to be exactly what you make of it. You can always find something to gripe about. If you can't think of anything, sit back and listen, and somebody will be glad to give you a list. I remember my first couple of days in Navy Boot Camp... about 50 years ago. I remember straggling (trying to march) to breakfast at some very early hour. Guys were grumbling about the hour and the cold. I remember the sunrises in San Diego being awesome. I remember think about the poor saps who were sleeping through the most beautiful part of the day. And I preferred marching in the cool of the day rather than in the heat of the afternoon... they complained about the heat too. The point is, you can complain about the hour, or you an enjoy the sunrise. It's up to you. I won't kid you. Not every instant was enjoyable. But I did stay in for a quarter of a century. Had it been predominantly bad, I wouldn't have done that. People might complain about the shipboard conditions. Sleeping quarters can be rather Spartan... especially if you're enlisted. But they beat sleeping in a swamp, or in a hole, or any of a lot of other places I've slept. Some might complain about the food. But it beats "C"-rations... and probably even today's MREs. I remember flying home from my first tour in Vietnam. The attendant offered drinks. Every guy in the plane requested milk. They'd been drinking reconstituted stuff for so long, it was good to get some real cow juice. But I'll bet that, though they probably got tired of the reconstituted milk, they adapted, drank it, used it in their coffee, and probably ate food prepared with it, all without complaining.

Answer 3

General Quarters

Answer 4

General Quarters is when the ship's crew is put on either simulated or actual battle/emergencies readiness alerts.
In case of simulated alerts, sailors are given much needed practice to take care of an actual emergency.
General Quarters is used for peacetime emergencies or for war-time situations.
I hope this answers your question.
I think that the Navy is the only military organization to use the term "General Quarters".

Answer 5

That would be where the General stays. Any branch that has a General should have them, but the navy for sure because that would be on board a ship and everyone would have quarters.

Answer 6

GQ is when all hands must turn to and man their emergency stations. this serves two purposes.. one, to make sure that the ship can defend itself from danger..manmade or otherwise, and 2, so that they can account for everyone in the crew.

EVERYBODY has an emergency station, and it can be anywhere on the ship.

Answer 7

how frequent is the call for GQ happens in the navy?