>>4749570
As for whose pen, watch, book are these, might we assume that these are at rest and since the watch has been taken off, the jacket is off, the sleeves are rolled up, and the day is done? Or the gentleman is washing his hands.
That is to say, what does it say, what is the message relayed, when one takes off his watch?
The buttons appear to be at rest. The winder is not raised, for example, and the other two buttons appear to be in normal ready positions. The watch is at rest but keeping time, given the second hand position.
The pen's point is not in the image so can't tell if its out or in. Book or binder is obviously closed. The placement of watch and pen ontop of the binder would suggest the pen is also at rest.
The watch face does not indicate morning or afternoon. But when would the wearer be at rest?
When he is ready to go off duty and go to his bunk. Or just before he rises to leave his bunk and go back on duty.
Here is a quote from a Sailor in the US Navy:
The Midwatch knocks me for a loop just like it does everyone else: a fact that I’ve done more than my share of grumbling about over the years. But a person can get a lot of thinking done during the Midwatch. And it was during a Midwatch that I finally began to understand the real job of the United States Military.
During the Midwatch, at say three in the morning, only a handful of crewmembers are awake: the Bridge crew, the teams in Sonar Control and Combat Information Center, a skeleton crew of Engineers, roving Sounding and Security watches, and a few others. The rest of the crew is asleep, catching a few hours of downtime between watches, drills, and emergencies.
Now here’s the funny thing … The Sailors who are lucky enough to be in their bunks at three a.m. don’t usually know who’s got the watch. It’s plenty of work keeping track of your own watch schedules. No one really has time to bother with someone else’s rotation. So at three in the morning, when a Sailor is sleeping, he or she typically has no idea who is running the ship.
End quote.
Link to the rest of the description of the Midwatch
https://usnaorbust.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/midwatch-bain-of-sailors-backbone-of-the-navy/