Another name for
Greenwich Mean Time, aka
Coordinated Universal Time.
It is not called "Zulu Time" because
Natal Province in
South Africa is in that zone; it isn't.
The
United States Navy has assigned a letter to each
time zone. The letters don't wrap continuously around the Earth as you might expect. Suffice it to say that "Z" is the letter assigned to GMT.
"Zulu" is the phonetic name used for "Z"; thus, "Zulu Time".
The
FAA has picked up the same usage, and thus the entire world's civil aviation system uses it.
On March 27,
1964, a magnitude 8
earthquake struck southern Alaska. This earthquake also generated a
tsunami which reverberated around the
Pacific Ocean. The Navy sent tsunami warnings, giving estimated arrival times.
The trouble was, the Navy issued their estimated times in Zulu Time. Officials in
Crescent City,
California had no idea what "Zulu Time" was. They had no idea when the tsunami would arrive.
The tsumani arrived in Crescent City,
on time, and destroyed the city's docks and hurled a pile of debris at a
tank farm, causing a massive fire.
12 people were killed in Crescent City and $7,400,000 of damage (1964 dollars) was done. This was the highest fatality rate and the most damage done outside Alaska.