General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
Posted by:
Juergen W.
()
Date: March 21, 2001 04:01PM
<HTML>Hello AZ,
the navigation was the same on the surface or dived.
They used dead reckoning. It means the navigator (Obersteuermann) was calculating the position about every 6 minutes by speed and course. For this behalf he has displays for speed and gyroscopic compass.
On U170 in 1944 they were used to surface only some 10 minutes in the night between 10 pm and 12 pm. In this time the navigator tried to make position with the sextant. The Kdr. of U170 reported he had have a navigator who was such skilfull he was able to make the position with the sextant even if it was very cloudy and he could see only three or four stars. Usully the difference was between 10 and 20 miles per 24 hours and the sailed distance was about 100 miles. Sometimes they could see stars only after 3 or 4 days when they sailed between Island, Scotland and Norway.
The magnetic compass on the conning tower was only used if the gyroscopic compass does not work because the gyroscopic compass was much more exact then the magnetic compass.
Greeting
Juergen W.</HTML>
the navigation was the same on the surface or dived.
They used dead reckoning. It means the navigator (Obersteuermann) was calculating the position about every 6 minutes by speed and course. For this behalf he has displays for speed and gyroscopic compass.
On U170 in 1944 they were used to surface only some 10 minutes in the night between 10 pm and 12 pm. In this time the navigator tried to make position with the sextant. The Kdr. of U170 reported he had have a navigator who was such skilfull he was able to make the position with the sextant even if it was very cloudy and he could see only three or four stars. Usully the difference was between 10 and 20 miles per 24 hours and the sailed distance was about 100 miles. Sometimes they could see stars only after 3 or 4 days when they sailed between Island, Scotland and Norway.
The magnetic compass on the conning tower was only used if the gyroscopic compass does not work because the gyroscopic compass was much more exact then the magnetic compass.
Greeting
Juergen W.</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
AZ | 03/19/2001 02:45PM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
Capt. George W. Duffy | 03/19/2001 09:12PM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
AZ | 03/20/2001 08:17AM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
j harvey | 03/21/2001 01:00PM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
Binnacle | 03/20/2001 08:09PM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
AZ | 03/21/2001 02:35PM |
|
RE: NAVIGATION ON THE SURFACE
|
Juergen W. | 03/21/2001 04:01PM |