Yep. The modern equivalent is a security guard doing his rounds and tapping his phone on NFC tags around the premises. Pretty neat to see how it used to be done.
Bus drivers have a similar system called "Zonar", which features NFC or RFID tags that are unique. When the tags are placed, a special tool is employed to document which tags are put in which places by the mechanic setting up the bus, and when the regular driver is doing his or her rounds checking out the tires, doors, lights, fluids, etc, the scanning of the unique tag at each station with a driver's device works to confirm that the person at least went to that spot. Of course someone could scan without actually performing the check, but that sort of thing holds true for any such system. Since each tag is unique a driver couldn't really put a board of tags together to scan, since they wouldn't match what was on the vehicle.
Yeah, I do that with the phone now. In the 90s and 2000s we had a wand that detected round discs stuck on door frames and stuff , but some of the buildings I was at still had keys built into the wall that previous guards used to punch paper in a box.
Yep. I used the old Detex clocks in 1989 at several accounts that still used them, especially truck yards and places like that. Others were already switching to bar code or magnetic strip scanners. I just finished a tour with our account's iPhone scanning the NFC tags. Interestingly, the printout from our system strongly resembles the paper tape from the old Detex clocks. It prints a horizontal timeline with vertical lines showing when the tags were scanned. Some places I've worked still call them "Detex rounds." I just did a quick Google and found Detex Corp. stopped making them on Dec. 31, 2011.
@@TWX1138 I think this would work for delivery drivers, an NFC tag on your house that the driver can tap to show they at least went to your address at the time they claim
As a former Security Guard I can tell you that these systems still exist, The paper in the clock actually has the time printed on it 24hrs and is usually a disk of paper. The key embosses its number on the disk at the time when it is turned. The clocks are also very heavy and metal with a leather case around it. Often guards would tie a knot in the middle of the strap which then makes a formidable weapon. Perhaps where the term "clocked" come from? New watch systems have bar codes around that can be scanned as the guard patrols.
Newer systems still just read your personal ID card into the overall log. All you're carrying is your normal lanyard instead of a piece of equipment to break or fail.
When I was in college working security we had "detex" clocks. Walk around, put the key that was on the wall into the clock and turn it and it made a time stamp. The deepest darkest recess we had to visit was next to the trash compactor, it was rank in the summer. But walking rounds on mothballed warships? Sign me up, that would be a blast.
When I was in college at Northwestern in the 1980's, the campus night watchmen were still using this very same system. The old observatory building had one of those Latham boxes just outside the room where my friends and I liked to study. We'd see the watchman once a night (or more, depending on how late we were there working math and physics problems). Eventually we asked him what he was doing, and he gave the same explanation Ryan did in the video.
Those were used for magazine security patrol during the 80’s. When the watch started after working hours the first on watch would get the clock from the armory. Each watch would have to enter every magazine and insert and turn key to log they were there. Had a total of 4 groups. Each turret was its own group. 5 inch mags and ciws mags were group 4. Each group had 1 hour to complete. The watch was looking for any flooding (sprinkler system). Fires and any forced entry. Also would investigate any flooding or high temp alarms in the magazines. Side note. Mag security patrol would read magazine temperature hi and low on a thermometer that would read a 24hr temperature. Group 1&2 on the mid watch. Group 3&4 on the 0400-0800. Would give temps to armory crew and they had to provide a report if any high temps(including pyrotechnic lockers topside as well as small arms inventory.
This is like being the keeper of a very old mansion..huge with many rooms each containing all sorts of hidden stuff. You have the best job ever sir. Id be a volunteer if i were there and not stuck in the Arizona desert. Keep the vids coming. Love your content!
This is the 2nd time I have heard watch clocks mentioned with the idea they were used while the ship was in mothballs, while this may be correct, I would like to note the ship I was on in the early 1980s (AFS-3) had a “roving watch” at night that checked certain spaces such as the magazines & had a watch clock to verify that they had actually made their rounds. So the watch clock keys on the New Jersey may actually be a relic of its last time in commission.😮
As it's midnight here , I can appreciate how much the watch keepers must have enjoyed having to use these keys , although once you are inside time of night or day means nothing as you are always cut off from the outside world I don't expect they had full lighting either when mothballed . It's an interesting find and a reminder of how forttunate the class has been for all four to become museums .
In the 70s I was an engine man on an ATF (Fleet Tug) the fire and security watch carried a watchmsn`s on his rounds. No gun decking that watch. We had keys in shaf alley, on the bridge and many other spaces. 6:56
No sooner I started watching the video with Ryan describing the keys, I immediately recognized the keys belonging to a Detex clock. Used one of those doing building security in the early 80's. Nice flashback to an easier time.
I did a barcode based system for recording inspections using huge old Norand Handheld computers with barcode scanners in the 1980s. Detex clocks were one of many such systems prior to that. Modern systems have a small coin sized tag that talks to a reader, or bluetooth tags.
Nowadays doors or spaces will have RFID tags on them that are scanned by the watch person and are available for audits by managment. An even easier method involves access control system logs.
I do utility engineering and ran into one of these bolted to an old power pole yesterday. It was a Detex Watchclock Key box. Still had the key in it too. Dunno what it would have been there for, now it's just surrounded by houses and apartments, but it looks like it's been there a LONG time. Wouldn't have had a clue what it was if I hadn't seen this video last year.
(Lockpicker here) I could see someone trying to fit one of those keys in the beefy padlocks around the ship and snapping the key in the lock. I bet they were removed so that didn't happen. It's enough of a pain when someone does that in a residential setting, I seem to remember you showed us a lock once which was in a shroud so it couldn't easily be cut easily, I would not want to have to deal with that on a battleship. Safer and easier to go around cutting the chains. That said looks like you're using Masterlocks, vast majority of those fall apart if you breath on them. :D
In the mid to late 80’s when I served aboard carriers there were several roving patrol routes you might get assigned to in the night watch period. They each had a pretty good sized route ( walking would take about an hour.. I usually ran.. 20 min) that required you to hit each station I think every hour. You would be in trouble if you didn’t, and the paper in your watchstander clock would be reviewed at the end of your watch to verify this. This watch occurred every night for sure when underway, I can remember if we did this in port. The Roving patrol…memories…
These were added during the '80s. The purpose was to make sure the roving patrol (Weapons) was actually doing their rounds. The watchmans clock had a tendency to "fall" down the trunks. Eventually, they ran out of the paper discs that rec orded when the rover turned the key in the clock. New discs were seldom ordered, but no one told the rover that.
makes you wonder how rampant gundecking was that they went to that system. none of the ships i served on, and never heard of it on others. it was bad enough having some little nerd chief going around sticking post it notes on hatches of secured compartments saying "this hatch/door open", while you were the armed rover.
I wouldn't say it was rampant, but when you consider the number of ordnance spaces there are on the ship, it was a way to check that all spaces were "visited" during the watch. Lots of vertical ladders involved.
Actually heard of this museum ship channel from the USS Codd’s channel. Very awesome ship. Having served in the merchant marine, I absolutely love this content!! Thanks!! 😁👍👍🇺🇸
Memories flash back to 1973, roaming what used to be Mare Island Naval Hospital during WWII. Was classrooms and offices in 73. Wind the clock and insert the disk. Walk around inserting keys. The Old Morgue was spooky midnight on Halloween..
In the 1980's I walked clock rounds. There was a paper disk in the clock where the key printed the number relative to the rotation (time) preprinted on the disk. In order for the data to be easily read, we had to take 10 minutes between key stations. The disk was changed for each round.
In the early 70’s my best friend dropped out of college, and got an interim job as a security guard. He had to “walk the clock” a few times a shift. The issue was what Ryan calls “checking deep dark places”. Not fun….and your imagination can play tricks on you…and I can only imagine how an empty mothballed battleship can be fertile ground for imaginings.
I have heard that the staff on Wisconsin deny that she suffered any fires while in mothballs. Hope this issue can be resolved peacefully without trading broadsides !
I have seen a modern version of this on cruise ships - which were not mothballed but operating. They basically have NFC tags scattered around the ship, and the crew member who does the rounds to check that everything is okay (in addition to all the modern surveillance systems they have with smoke alarms and cameras everywhere) scans them with a device as they walk past.
I used to work for a company that had a security officer on the USNS Big Horn when she was undergoing refit at a contractor in Norfolk around 2007. We had a wand thing that you would touch to a RFID tag mounted where they wanted checked. One round basically took the entire shift.
Hyman Rickover, while he was the Engineering Officer on Nevada, put odd stamps and hole-punches around the Engineering spaces that had to checked during a watch, so that sailors had to stamp or punch each item with the appropriate symbol to show that they had actually checked gauges and valves...
Way back in time when working at my first company I saw one of those things on TV and asked my dad what that was about, and he gave me the low down on it. Later one of the companies I worked at had one the night crew used. The security Sargent could read the tapes very well to see how people were doing.
I used one of those clock things for rounds I did in one job as a young man. Now that I am retired I do security at a shipyard and we used a app on a phone to swipe little discs with a RFID chips that does a electronic report of your patrol.
I love putting together puzzles like this. I used to have a giant building for a shop that was a 100 year old cannery. I was constantly looking around the place for evidence of what used to be - modified countless times during it's life. The original 1910 3 phase power panel looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. (We had updated service, but all the original wiring was in place) It had a bunch of cool old light switches, you had to TURN them to turn on your lights. That's why we say "turn" on when we're just pushing a button. Lots of antique trash stuffed into the walls. Took a long time to figure out how it used to be setup, but I got a pretty good idea.
My Father a Navy MCPO, last posting was at the Bremerton, Washington: Ghost Fleet as young men and Sea Cadets. When Mother had enough of our mischief, we spent hours using those keys. That was part of the reason I did 26 years in the ARMY.
You Ryan get a like even before I start your videos! Who nerds out over keys? Well you and I for starters. I hope you find a key to the Captain's liquor Stores! I would bid a significant amount for some WW2 spirits. You know there's some somewhere on you big old ship.
Boy, does that take me back. 15 years in Security in the UK. Got out in 2000 and went into Retail. Thousands of Patrols done with the fore-runners of those: Same Keys, but they used Tapes. At least one site I covered from time to time had an enterprising individual who nobbled the chains on the keys, so he collected the keys as he was locking up, using them at the Guard's Base during the night, then putting them back during the Un-Lock in the morning. Never did that myself: You WILL eventually get caught out.
Here in CH, private security companies (especially one called Securitas) have long given you a hard plastic disk to stick on the door or window or whatever you need patrolled (and pay them for), so patrol needs to come and tap (and see any damage from break ins or whatever)
I recently visited a hospital and noticed watch key boxes had been replaced with what look like oversized QR codes, but with fewer black and white squares. At first I was puzzled because some were below knee level, then as I rounded a corner I met up with an autonomous floor scrubbing machine which looked a little like R2D2. The machine snapped a picture of the bar code and then parked itself in a nearby charging station. Apparently even robots have to prove to the boss that they aren’t gold-bricking. There’s also a grocery store which has a tall white robot which very slowly wanders the aisles apparently taking inventory. I assume the robot only knows when a shelf space is completely empty of a product as it would be difficult to count containers behind other containers, or irregular shapes like bags of chips.
I ended up learning about this system because I stumbled across such a box still present in an unrenovated-since-the-60s area of my university. Interesting to hear that it was also on the battleship!
My high school had one of these watchman's stations by the back door of the auditorium. I spent a lot of time there since I did stage crew. Didn't notice any others, but I'm sure there either were or had been in the past.
When I started as. Corrections Officer in 1988 we had those throughout the facility. The thing never worked correctly and was replaced by a swipe card system around 1993
I live in Melbourne Australia, and our Tram drivers use to use a similar system at check points along their route back in the day, although they carried a key, and the devices was on poles.
What is unique about those keys are the location of the numbers on the keys. If you research you will probably find that that design is most likely from the 60s or before.the later clocks had the numbers on the side of the keys.
I used one of these in 2000 at a major software company believe it or not. It doesn't imprint the time, but the clock pulls the paper tape around, so where on the tape its pressed tells you when it was pressed.
The detex clocks had about a 1 1/2inch wide paper tape. They were printed in green 1 o clock, 2, 3, 4, etc. with 3 lines until the next hour, so they could tell what keys were punched in 15 minute increments. The numbers were on different positions on the key, sometimes if you walked at the right speed, the punches would form a 45 degree angle from time line to time line.
Proxies pens, we use em on our ship for hired security and I've seen hotels use em... You tap a tag in what ever room and it records the date and time for later download
Bridge Harbor in Freeport, TX Had that exact Lathem system in place at the end of each pier for the night watchmen/security guards in the 80's. I just remember that the key boxes always fascinated me as a kid.
Working for Mass. Dept. Of Youth Services I used this system in the mid 90s. A paper disc rotatated in the mechanisms according to the clock. It was passed to the next watchstander, at change of shift. It records 24hrs of "Punches". That way, its is know if you made your rounds in the required amount of time without skipping a station.
Funny story on the watchmen keys to operate that device that after every numbered key was hit in order they had to plug it to send alarm company that hourly watch was completed. Back in the 1970'S our truck drivers were supposed to go on strike at any day. We had to install about 20 key stations thru out the three story main building parking lot & warehouse. They hired a guy that might have only been 5' tall and 85 pounds. They put a heavy chain around the time clock that he had to carry and gave him a huge German Shepherd guard dog that dragged him all around. Took him almost two hours to hit the stations that had to be done in under a hour. He throw the keys in an office then quit.
I would love to have the job of being roaming overnight security guard on a museum ship i could definetly say id be overly thorough as i love hunting down crawling into and meticulously inspecting every little nook and cranny on old vehicles and heavy equipment plus i have a love for historically signifigant artifacts
One of the next types of watch stations was a 1" x 3 " plastic tag that had a matrix of magnets in order to encode the station number. The reader would be placed against the tag to read the station. I " think " these were called Morse . These were in a building that was last active in 2000 . I was able to find 3 of these stations along with station numbers and have tried to decode the matrix but have not had any success.
i was working for a security company late 1978 until 1982 that kind of clock walking and punch every hour. Also in 1998 i saw what they call fire guard on a cruise ship walking around with the clock doing rounds i was told they was getting a lower insurance for them walking around looking for fires.
The Royal Navy used these in the 1970’s I remember walking round HMS Sultan (a shore Engineering base) in the middle of the night turning keys. One guy ended up on defaulters being accused of not carrying out rounds as he didn’t realise you turned it once at each location. He visited all the boxes but at the first one wound the clock up as that was what he thought he had to do. This punched all the tape In about a minute and nothing was recorded at the other boxes. 😅
On the British Columbia ferry, Queen of Prince Rupert, those key boxes were all over the ship. Used to be a guy or girl walking around constantly, cranking their clocks.
I was watching the new episode of sog cast. Its about members of MACVSOG. The guest mentioned calling the new Jersey for fire support utilizing its sixteen-inch guns.
Interim method from the 1990's used a tag, made by Dallas Semiconductor ( later on bought by Maxim semi, and now folded into TI), that are part of a series, all communicating using 2 wires, and each with a unique serial number on them. I actually have a silicon wafer of those chips, off the line, but before they got the serial numbers permanently set on them, and before packaging into little buttons. Those are used for many things, like watch stations, in a block of plastic the guard touches, that then records serial number of tag, and time, for the same reason. Also used for asset control, and a good number are also used for fuel sales, using a reader attached to the pump, so you simply pull up, tap the tag on the reader, and then fill up, and then drive off, with the transaction being allocated to the vehicle automatically, so no need to have anybody at the pump in say a large complex, each vehicle simply has a tag.
While stationed aboard the USS Dixon AS-37 in the late 1970’s our disbursing officer was taken hostage, Beat up and gave away the combination to the safe in disbursing. Late into the night on a foggy night our ship’s disbursing office was robbed. From than on our watch standers had to go around the ship and punch the clock to show they had checked the spaces around the ship. As far as I know they never caught the guy’s that robbed the ship.
I was onboard at the same time. Ens Bogart was the disbursing Officer. I was on watch when it happened and was questioned by NIS. I worked in the repair dept. 67H shop.
Ryan, did you know that technology is pre-WWII. I saw an old 30's Three Stooges film set in a castle and they had a knight in armor walking around with a Detex clock clicking the keys as a joke.
Also, speaking of keys, I’ll echo what I and many others said on the nuclear key video: I’d pay far, far too much money for a permission to fire and nuclear permission to fire key LOL
1) do people realize how creepy it is to be down deep inside a dark, quiet ship when NO ONE else is around (you hope) 2) I’ve used a similar system that had a large rotary disc in clock that made 1 revolution in 24 hrs, then was replaced, so by where on the disc each key punched a hole in it, you could verify the round. 3) Engineers can be A-holes, and coat the keys in never-seize…
I bet there were thousands of keys associated with the battleships. Now, here's a question, which navy rating cut keys and worked on the locking mechanisms?
From my experience, usually the Fire Controllmen did most locksmithing, as they usually held a relatively high security clearance. High security locks on the magazines were maintained by the Gunners Mates. No one on board cut high security keys, due to the specialized equipment involved.
@@richardkoehnen7348 After I left the Navy, I ran into a guy who was an MR. We tied up next to tenders and I knew this rate had individuals onboard. We didn't have MR's on subs so everything mechanical usually went to the A-Gangers (MM's). The MR rate is gifted in that they can fabricate just about anything. I would have guessed (probably incorrectly) that they had the key cutting machines and jigs for doors. Kudos to both rates or whoever maintained the keys!!
In this case, there is no "lock". The keyway on the recorder is the same, and each key has a number, which is inked onto the recorder paper. Keys MIGHT even be available today... but for what purpose ?
