Nautical Miles

[Snestorm]

Time for the big fix.
No we're not driving Volkswagens on the Autobahn (de sp?), we're driving uboats in the Atlantic. No kilometer screw-up this time.
Come on guys, let's get it right.
Nautical/Sea Miles.

[Sag75]

nowaday you are right... but you have to consider what kind of unit was used in '40s by Germany. I guess they were using the metric system..

[Hitman]

As far as I know, in the german U-Boats miles were used for navigation purposes, but the firing solutions and target data for those solutions were always given in metres/kilometres. The reason being that the calculations were easier for a man's brain, and the TDC also computed them in metric. BUt navigation in miles adjusts better to the rounded earth we live in, hence they kept using it for that purpose. :shucks:

[Reece]

Didn't know that Hitman, always assumed 100% metric!:hmmm:

[Brag]

All navies still use nautical miles for navigation as the results from angle computations come in seconds, minutes of arc, which is miles or fraction of miles. One nautical mile = 1852 meters.

Measurements on a nautical chart are also in miles, you take dividers and spread them over the latitude scale on the edge and measure--result is nautical miles or fraction.

For gunnery, the metric system was and is used.

Though I am a metric nut and find the statute mile used in the USA an obsolete anachronism, In SH3 it drove me nutz the unrealistic Kms. use.

[looney]

It shouldn't be to hard, to find out what was used by the U-boats. I hope it will be real :)

[Thomen]

Hitman nailed it. U-Boats used nautical miles (nm/sm) for navigation, distances traveled, etc and meters for gunnery, object distances and so on.

Distances for ships, plane and so on where given as example,as: E=20hm or as full metric meter number, ex: E=2 000m.

[Sailor Steve]

All navies still use nautical miles for navigation as the results from angle computations come in seconds, minutes of arc, which is miles or fraction of miles. One nautical mile = 1852 meters.
:yep:

The nautical mile was established at 1852 metres in 1929. Ships and aircraft the world over still measure their speed in knots, or nautical miles per hour.

[pythos]

I was just about to say that sailor steve. Most stuff in Aerial navigation is done in Nautical miles. Though for some reason visibilities are done in statute, as is the radius of most navigation aids. Really outdated and can really mess some people up.

Ships and other sea going vessels use nautical miles for measures, and speed is Knots per hour.

From what I heard the term Knot came from measuring the amount of time a long rope with evenly spaced knots tied into it, took to unravel to its full extent, while a ship moved. Not sure how true that is, but if it is true, kinda ingenious in its simplicity.

[Sailor Steve]

Yep, that's exactly the way it worked. Wiki has a good article on it, including links to the chip log and line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_(unit)

[Platapus]

Ships and other sea going vessels use nautical miles for measures, and speed is Knots per hour.



Knots, not knots per hour. Knots per hour would be a measure of acceleration.

Speed is either Nautical Miles per hour or Knots.