Overview
Covers a range of both in-game and real life topics. Check the in-game manual for things not covered in this guide.
Port and Starboard
There are a few terms that are good to know. I’ll state that I don’t like try-hard mil-simmers and saying and doing things the way they’re done in real life just because is silly. However, if you can increase the clarity of your message and reduce the time needed to get things across then I’m all for it.
Port and Starboard
“We left port right for the stars”
From Wikipedia
“The term starboard comes from the Old English steorbord, meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their center-lines, they were steered with a steering oar at the stern of the ship. Because more people are right-handed it was placed on the right-hand side. The term is similar to the Old Norse stýri (rudder) and borð (side of a ship). Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at wharf on the other side. For this reason the left side was called port.”
This is important when calling out directions on the Angle on Bow on the TDC which we’ll cover later.
Bearing, Course and Heading
Bearing [link]
Relative Bearing – “A relative bearing is one in which the reference direction is straight ahead, where the bearing is measured relative to the direction the navigator is facing (on land) or in relation to the vessel’s bow (aboard ship).”
True Bearing – “is measured in relation to the fixed horizontal reference plane of true north, that is, using the direction toward the geographic north pole as a reference point, while a magnetic bearing is measured in relation to magnetic north, that is in relation to the north direction of the Earth’s magnetic field lines at the given location. The latter is not the same as the direction toward the magnetic north pole due to magnetic anomalies.”
Course [link]
“In navigation, the course of a vessel or aircraft is the cardinal direction in which the craft is to be steered. The course is to be distinguished from the heading, which is the compass direction in which the craft’s bow or nose is pointed.”
Note: Drift – “The difference between the course and heading, known as the drift, is due to the motion of the underlying medium, the air or water, or other effects like skidding or slipping.”
Examples:
- If I say set course for heading 270, we’re going directly west.
- If I say enemy ship bearing 270 he’s directly perpendicular off our left side.
- If the hydrophone reports contacts bearing 120, that’s past 90 but less than 180, so you know it’s towards the back right of whatever way your ship is headed.
Angle on Bow
It’s the bearing to you from it’s bow.
It’s the bearing to you from it’s bow.
It’s the bearing to you from it’s bow.
Just keep saying it until it clicks
The Angle on Bow (AOB) is what angle of the ship youre looking at, relative to their bow.
You’re looking at the enemy ship through your periscope. It’s exactly perpendicular to you. Going from left to right or right to left it doesn’t matter yet. It’s AOB is 90 degrees. Because from it’s bow to you is 90 degrees.
If that doesn’t help, Imagine there’s a person on the on the other ship. and he knows exactly where you are and he’s pointing his finger directly at you calling out a bearing (remember that bearing is the angle from the bow). that’s your AOB.
Determining Speed
[link] (Provided by TheDirktator)
(Length of ship in meters)/ (Time in seconds) = speed in m/s
Conversions
1 m/s = 1.94 Knots
Tips
“The optimum firing distance is between 300 to 1,000 meters. Torpedoes require at least 300 meters of run before they arm, so its not possible to attack any closer than 300 meters. The optimum gyro angle of the torpedo is zero degrees. The wider the gyro angle, the higher the chance for error.” (uboat aces)
Useful Links
VIIC Manual
[link]
U-995 Panorama
[link]
U-Historia – Hard to read unless you know spanish but has excelled info
[link]
NavWeaps – Tons of data on everything Naval
Deck Gun
[link]
WWII German Torpedoes
[link]
U-570 Design Book
[link]