STEM Lesson: Bullseye

Attention students, parents, and teachers. Your Battleship IOWA education team is here with some Friday fun. Time to learn about strange things on the battleship!

This yellow square is called a “bullseye.” It’s a code that acts like a map to tell you where you are on the ship. The first line is the most important.

Works like this:

• 1st number: which deck or level you’re on
• 2nd number: which frame you’re near – there is a frame every 4 feet and the numbering starts at the bow
• 3rd number: which side of the ship you’re on – port or starboard (left or right). Zero is the centerline. From there, the higher the number the further from center you are
• 4th number: what the compartment is used for

This particular bullseye reads: 1 – 119 – 6 – Q. Let us translate for you. It says you are:

• On the 01 (main) level
• At frame 119 (about 476 feet from the bow)
• On the port side – because 6 is an even number; and because it’s a lot bigger than 0, it means you’re pretty close to the outside of the ship
• Q indicates a space that isn’t usually manned such as engineering and electronics areas

Today this space is a small office and conference room.

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