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Author Topic: Zulu Time  (Read 13741 times)

Offline Ted_Stryker

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Zulu Time
« on: December 13, 2005, 04:14:32 PM »
Good strip on the "Zulu" time!   ;D

My understanding of the origin is that it goes back to the need for the co-ordination of a common time reference point, or zero-basis point, where everyone could state time refrences to in order to avoid ambiguity.  This was of particular importance with operations during wartime, such as WWII, where strikes would have to be co-ordinated among many units based in disparate time zones.  It's orgin harkens back to radio operations as well with short wave communications where people of different countries, often on opposite sides of the planet, wanted to co-ordinate on-air "rendevous" times.  NASA uses GMT (aka UTC, aka Zulu) for all time references, and is required for use with satellite tracking for the folks at NASA, NORAD, etc.  I know it goes back before WWII, but I don't know exactly how far before.

As Rod Machado has said when asked the time in Zulu...  "Nambo-Tico"   ;D
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Offline Stef

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2005, 04:34:58 PM »
Thanks for the kudos and your insights!  :)
The world time is measured in Greenwich since 1884. http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/
What I was trying to ask in my blog was the origin of the name and not of the time itself though. I still don't get it why it has so many names! I guess "Zulu Time" was just picked because it sounds cool!  ;D
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Offline Sleek-Jet

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2005, 04:52:03 PM »
Quote from: Stef on December 13, 2005, 04:34:58 PM
I guess "Zulu Time" was just picked because it sounds cool!  ;D

Chuck, we have a winner... tell him what he's won.... ;D
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Offline Ted_Stryker

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2005, 04:52:35 PM »
Ah, sorry for my misinterpretation.  Thanks for the info link on it's exact origin date too!

I do believe, however that the "Z" was originally used to "Zero" everybody in on a time during wartime operations.  At least that's what I've heard.  An outgrowth of that was the term "Zero Hour".  What I've heard is that, obviously, everybody needed to sync their watches (ah, no Casio WaveCeptors around in WWI or WWII), so they'd call out the mark to "zero in" everybody on the same time before a mission.  Zero = Z = Zulu in the phonetic alphabet, obviously.

Again... this is just according to the things I've heard.  I don't have a reference point specifically for it.  Just word-of-mouth anecdotal evidence.

Hmm... maybe R. Lee Ermy's "Mail Call" program could do a spot on this one!
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Offline Ted_Stryker

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2005, 05:06:35 PM »
Well.... would you believe that I have found a resource on this specifically denoting the Zulu time nomenclature mystery???

Turns out that my anecdotal evidence was incorrect (should have known better and stuck with emperical evidence)...

Anyway... the explaination I found is the following.....

This was found as part of the text from the website: http://www.word-detective.com/101404.html

To explain "Zulu" time, we must explain "Z time," which was developed by Nathaniel Bowditch, an 18th century sea captain and author of "The American Practical Navigator," still considered an essential textbook on sea navigation.  In the course of developing a system by which naval navigators could record events in the local time wherever they were, Bowditch realized that since there are 24 hours in a day and 360 degrees around the earth, each 15 degrees change in longitude represented an hour's difference in local time.  Thus was the notion of time zones born, and Bowditch designated them with letters, marching East from Greenwich, through the International Date Line (180 degrees longitude), and back to England as he neared the end of the alphabet.  It's a bit more complicated than I can explain here (among other things, the International Date Line zone got two separate letter designators, and Bowditch skipped the letter "J" for some reason), but Greenwich itself ended up being designated the center of the "Z" zone.  Voila, Greenwich Mean Time became "Z time," and sailors have referred to it as such ever since.  You can read a far more complete account of Bowditch and "Z time" at http://www.maybeck.com/ztime.

From "Z time" to "zulu" is a much simpler jump.  "Zulu" is simply the letter "Z" rendered in the NATO phonetic alphabet used by the military and air traffic controllers ("Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot," etc.) for clarity in radio transmissions.


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Offline Stef

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2005, 07:09:10 PM »
Wow! Now this is interesting!  :o
So I've told a wrong story in my blog... Thanks for doing the research and sharing!!
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Offline Ted_Stryker

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2005, 07:29:12 PM »
My pleasure!   ;D

I found it fascinating as well... to quote my favorite Vulcan  :D

It's great to hunt down the origins of things like this.  It may not change what we do, but it enriches us by expanding on our knowledge of history at the least :)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year :)
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Offline leiafee

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2005, 09:14:57 PM »
Oh dear me, Chuck has clearly been wiating some time for the opportuity to spring that one... :D
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Offline leiafee

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2005, 09:22:24 PM »
Quote from: Ted_Stryker on December 13, 2005, 05:06:35 PM
From "Z time" to "zulu" is a much simpler jump.  "Zulu" is simply the letter "Z" rendered in the NATO phonetic alphabet used by the military and air traffic controllers ("Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot," etc.) for clarity in radio transmissions.

Which begs the question, was it called "Zebra Time", during earlier incarnations of the spelling alphabet?
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Offline Stef

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2006, 10:55:05 AM »
Was Z spelled with "Zebra" in the old times? And if so, why did they change it? Because there were people out ther who didn't know how to spell Zebra or did it sound too similar to Sierra?!
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Offline vinced

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2006, 05:46:17 PM »
Quote from: Ted_Stryker on December 13, 2005, 05:06:35 PM
From "Z time" to "zulu" is a much simpler jump.  "Zulu" is simply the letter "Z" rendered in the NATO phonetic alphabet used by the military and air traffic controllers ("Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot," etc.) for clarity in radio transmissions.

I learnt in High School that each time zone was given a letter designator with GMT (UTM) given the letter Z.  If I remember correctly the letters ran east from GMT to the International date line then started east for GMT and ran west.


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Offline leiafee

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2006, 08:22:43 PM »
Quote from: Stef on January 11, 2006, 10:55:05 AM
Was Z spelled with "Zebra" in the old times? And if so, why did they change it? Because there were people out ther who didn't know how to spell Zebra or did it sound too similar to Sierra?!

Able Baker Charlie Dog... I can't remember the rest.  There've been several versions.  One of our flying club members, who retrained for his PPL last year, after leaving the RAF in the fifties, said that was one of the hardest things about learning to fly again--a different radio alphabet!
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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #12 on: June 03, 2006, 01:47:59 PM »
Im sure the RAF used "Sugar" for "S" in WW2, maybe the USAAF did too? What about "Dog" wasnt that once used instead of "Delta"?
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Offline happylanding

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2006, 06:45:00 PM »
Quote from: leiafee on January 17, 2006, 08:22:43 PM
Quote from: Stef on January 11, 2006, 10:55:05 AM
Was Z spelled with "Zebra" in the old times? And if so, why did they change it? Because there were people out ther who didn't know how to spell Zebra or did it sound too similar to Sierra?!

Able Baker Charlie Dog... I can't remember the rest.  There've been several versions.  One of our flying club members, who retrained for his PPL last year, after leaving the RAF in the fifties, said that was one of the hardest things about learning to fly again--a different radio alphabet!


there was Able Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra........quite funny actually..........
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Offline SteepTurn

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Re: Zulu Time
« Reply #14 on: June 04, 2006, 11:41:22 AM »
there was Able Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra........quite funny actually..........
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