Target Speed Via Bow Wake

[IDUboat]

I was reading up on WW2 ship camouflage patterns and found one that showed the use of a false bow wake. Was this used to hide the ships true speed? Is this a real technique to estimate target speed? Do you think this could be estimated from the graphics in SH3?

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/measure_5.htm

[Chock]

Bow wave could indeed be used to estimate speed in real life, and can also be used in SH, although as in real life, it would probably be one of a few observation sources which would be combined to get a figure.

German WW2 Type XB boats occasionally had false bows painted on their sides to make range and speed estimates more difficult for the Allies in a manner similar to a technique used on several combat aircraft these days (such as the F/A-18, which can often be seen with a false canopy painted on its underside to confuse enemies in a dogfight). There is an artist's impression of V-119, a Type XB U-Boat with the false bow scheme in the Squadron/Signal publications 'U-Boats in action' (ISBN 0-89747-054-0)

I sometimes use bow wave alone as an estimate of speed if I'm in a rush to take a shot of opportunity when I haven't got the time to do a stopwatch estimate, i.e. when a battleship is in my scope and I'll never be able to do an end-around on it.

You get used to guessing speeds this way if you do it often enough.

:D Chock

[Avatar]

Hey,
I saw a Flower Class corvette in SH3 that had false wake painted on the bow. I have a picture of it. I dont know how to post it. But for sure, I had no idea what it was at first, but now I know. I thought it was a mouth like the flying tigers.
I play GWX1.03 loaded via SH3 Commander.