A ship's log is a record of data relating to a ship or submarine, such as weather conditions, crew complement or what ports were docked at and when. It is essential to traditional navigation, and must be filled in at least daily.

Legal Requirements

Most Admiralties specify that logs are kept to provide a record of events, and to help crews navigate should radio, radar or the GPS fail. Examination of a log is often used to try to explain some sort of disaster, in much the same way as a black box recorder is used on airplanes (see Marie Celeste).

Use in Fiction

• The Hornblower series mentions logs to explain plot development, or to make the story more realistic.
• Reading a log can make a dramatic explanation of a mysterious disaster in most sci-fi.
• In Star Trek the 'Captain's log', a form of ship's log, is used to fill in the audience as to the events in progress, and act as a more realistic form of soliloquy.

Navigation