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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