Real-Life ship recognition

[MRV]

Hi there,

having really a hard time with the SH5 TDC brought a question to my mind: how were ships identified in real life? I mean, it makes sense to have a recognition manual on board for intelligence-based info on hostile warships.

But what about merchants? You obviously need that info (mast height, draft.....) to sucessfully torpedo them, but IMHO there are (and were) hundreds of different civilian ship types, often not built from a certain class but special-built for the requirements of the future owner.

How did they got this right on u-boats?

[iambecomelife]

They used a system whereby features like number of masts, funnels, and deckhouses are identified. This can narrow ship classes down pretty easily.

Furthermore, it was possible to guess likely dimensions and draft for ships based on visual observation, so even if you didn't ID the exac ship type you could usually set your torpedoes to the correct draft, & so on.

Lastly, certain classes of ships were extremely common on the North Atlantic. For instance, the "War" class 5200 ton freighters and British Tanker Co. 7000 ton oil tankers (about 100 of each in service at the start of the war). Civilian ID books like Talbot Booth's merchant handbook would give the exact dimensions for these types of vessels.

[Bilge_Rat]

You also have to remember that in RL, U-Boat periscopes did not have the in game "stadimeter". The skipper would estimate range "by eye", based on many factors such as mast height, number of decks, relative size, experience. All of these factors made an exact ID less essential.

[Sailor Steve]

The manuals often also had photographs. I don't see how they could have had pictures of each of the thousands of merchants afloat, but they certainly had an idea of rough sizes and types.

One specific item that amazes me is the story of SS Empire Explorer. This ship was a cargo ship converted from a liner originally called Inanda. The U-boat kaleun who sank her reported that he had sunk Inanda, whoch means two things:

1) His ID book contained precise information in this case, and

2) The ship still looked enough like her old self to be recognizable

I can't imagine them having that kind of detail for every single ship, but in this case they certainly did.

One other reason I made a note of this ship: The 75 survivors were rescued by a single MTB, which meant a crowded trip to shore.

[Bilge_Rat]

another point, before WW2, all info on merchant ships registered around the world was public knowledge, so the reference material was there. I seem to recall that all submarines had a set of these books:


The Mercantile Navy List, compiled by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, was first published from 1849 to 1855, and annually thereafter from 1857 until 1976 (with supplements up to the end of 1977); excluding 1941 to 1946, during the Second World War. Monthly supplements were issued under various titles from 1886.

As the official, comprehensive listing of all merchant vessels registered under the British flag, it is one of the most important reference tools for anyone researching the history of British merchant shipping, and includes many ships not listed in its nearest equivalent, Lloyd's Register.
It provides basic information on each ship, which can be used to trace other records and to compile an outline history of a ship and its owners. Early volumes also include useful appendices, such as lists of pilots, receivers of wreck, and obituaries, and records of awards and testimonials for services at sea.



http://www.nmm.ac.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/the-merchant-navy/research-guide-c6-the-merchant-navy-the-mercantile-navy-list

or the LLoyd's register which was more widely available:


Lloyd's Register was first published in 1760 (the earliest known surviving copy is dated 1764) and then annually since 1775. Apart from 1834–1837 when all British vessels of 50 tons and over were listed, until 1875 Lloyd’s Register only included ships that they had surveyed. All merchant ships over 100 tons worldwide are listed from 1890-91. Some indexing to Lloyd’s Register has been undertaken at the Register of Ships (http://www.reach.net/~sc001198/Lloyds.htm).



http://www.nmm.ac.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/the-merchant-navy/research-guide-c5-the-merchant-navy-sources-for-ship-histories

[Zedi]

Weird. In 21 century we dont have any of those ships pictures, wonder how they got them at that time. Spent hours and hours looking for a classic C1 B S cargo picture and found hardly only 1, very altered. But they had drawings, thats why the manuals were so precise. SD never sleep.

[MRV]

Interesting, thanks.. how commanders knew which ships they had sunk. :arrgh!: You do not always get close enough to read the name on the bow.

@ Magnum:
I did the same and thats how it came to my mind, I cannot find any ship class pictures and as we all know, smartphones are useless while surrounded by steel and under water. ;)

BTW: SH5 badly needs more ships, I miss the GWX diversity.

[iambecomelife]

The manuals often also had photographs. I don't see how they could have had pictures of each of the thousands of merchants afloat, but they certainly had an idea of rough sizes and types.

One specific item that amazes me is the story of SS Empire Explorer. This ship was a cargo ship converted from a liner originally called Inanda. The U-boat kaleun who sank her reported that he had sunk Inanda, whoch means two things:

1) His ID book contained precise information in this case, and

2) The ship still looked enough like her old self to be recognizable

I can't imagine them having that kind of detail for every single ship, but in this case they certainly did.

One other reason I made a note of this ship: The 75 survivors were rescued by a single MTB, which meant a crowded trip to shore.

Interesting. Maybe they didn't get rid of the long superstructure with the passenger cabins during the conversion refit. Some converted freighters in WWI were externally quite similar to passenger ships.

I'll look up "Inanda" in "Talbot Booth's 1942 Edition" tonight.

I read of one case where one of a U-Boat's watch officers managed to ID a tanker because he had actually served on her before the war. It was sunk with no survivors. The whole thing was pretty disturbing for him, as some of his shipmates may have still been on board:

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/701.html

[Sailor Steve]

Weird. In 21 century we dont have any of those ships pictures, wonder how they got them at that time. Spent hours and hours looking for a classic C1 B S cargo picture and found hardly only 1, very altered. But they had drawings, thats why the manuals were so precise. SD never sleep.
If you want pictures of a particular type, probably the best way is to look at the list of ships of that type, then look up the individual names here:
http://www.photoship.co.uk/Browse%20Ship%20Galleries/

My only concern with pictures has been to check them against the in-game models for SH3, so I haven't been too concerned with details of the actual ships because I haven't been modeling them, just putting names with the proper classes. I had hoped to do something similar with SH4 and with SH5 once it has enough models to make it worthwhile.

[Zedi]

Great link Steve, thanks! But funny, right now in SH5 we have only classes, not particular ships and even with your link I still find it very hard to pin down a c1 b s class, the gallery is about ships not classes.

But anyway, its a great help for our wip, many thanks!

[Trevally.]

Thanks for the link Steve, that is indeed a great site:up:

[Factor]

Couldn't the Uboat captain just search google images for it....

[MRV]

Couldn't the Uboat captain just search google images for it....


No, they could not....being surrounded by steel gives you bad wireless reception. ;)