Dog watch Dog watch Dog watch, in marine or naval terminology, is a watch, a period of work duty or a work shift, between 16:00 and 20:00 (4 pm and 8 pm). This period is split into two, with the 'first' dog watch from 16:00 to 18:00 (4 pm to 6 pm) and the 'last' dog watch from 18:00 to 20:00 (6 pm to 8 pm). Each of these watches is half the length of a standard watch. The last dog watch is also referred to as the second dog watch in some sources. For instance Jack London in "The Sea Wolf",
Watch system standing 8 hours of watch followed by 16 hours off-watch. This schedule has been a fairly recent change to submariner work and rest routines. For nearly 45 years prior to 2015, submariners were on 18-hour days with 6 hours of watch followed by 12 hours off watch. The 12 hours off-watch were further divided into the first 6 hours being used for maintenance, cleaning, and entertainment; while the second 6 hours were usually for sleeping. Note that this arrangement resulted in one of the sections having two watches in one (24-hour) day, and there were no dog watches. Also, watch