jcope
11-10-12, 03:32 PM
Hi, All.
Last night I figured out the math (thanks to the magic of the WWW) for calculating an intercept course.
Let's say you've found a target, and you've tracked it long enough to determine its speed and course. You also know its bearing and distance. Daylight is coming soon and the airplanes are going to chase you down. Or maybe you're in a Strait and you want to get him before he changes course. Or maybe there are two freighters in the vicinty and you want to dispatch one and still have enough time to get the other. So your goal is to find the best course at a given speed (say flank) in order to meet the target just in time to fire, wrap up the engagement and move on.
Put the parameters into this calculator, and the math will tell you the heading you must set. My calculator in this case is the Numbers app in my iPad. But I can share an Excel spreadsheet that does the same, if anyone is interested. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to write up the math in a post on here.
I've included a "lead distance" parameter as well. Because you can't succeed if you just set a collision heading at flank speed. Long before you get close enough to fire you'll be spotted and evaded. So you need some time to sail in submerged. You can buy yourself some time by intercepting a point ahead of the target.
Use this calculator and you'll waste no time doing trial and error in your setup, you'll decrease your chances of getting chased off, you'll increase your chance to intercept before a course change, you'll give yourself the time you need to set up, but not more, and you'll send more ships to the bottom. Not to mention it's pretty fun to find a heading, sail it, and see that you're exactly where you wanted to be with respect to your prey. Now you really are a Sea Wolf, instead of a Sea Mole.
You're giving yourself the same opportunity to succeed that real captains had, because these calculations were all done by the crew. It's simple vector math and easy trigonometry.
Last night I figured out the math (thanks to the magic of the WWW) for calculating an intercept course.
Let's say you've found a target, and you've tracked it long enough to determine its speed and course. You also know its bearing and distance. Daylight is coming soon and the airplanes are going to chase you down. Or maybe you're in a Strait and you want to get him before he changes course. Or maybe there are two freighters in the vicinty and you want to dispatch one and still have enough time to get the other. So your goal is to find the best course at a given speed (say flank) in order to meet the target just in time to fire, wrap up the engagement and move on.
Put the parameters into this calculator, and the math will tell you the heading you must set. My calculator in this case is the Numbers app in my iPad. But I can share an Excel spreadsheet that does the same, if anyone is interested. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to write up the math in a post on here.
I've included a "lead distance" parameter as well. Because you can't succeed if you just set a collision heading at flank speed. Long before you get close enough to fire you'll be spotted and evaded. So you need some time to sail in submerged. You can buy yourself some time by intercepting a point ahead of the target.
Use this calculator and you'll waste no time doing trial and error in your setup, you'll decrease your chances of getting chased off, you'll increase your chance to intercept before a course change, you'll give yourself the time you need to set up, but not more, and you'll send more ships to the bottom. Not to mention it's pretty fun to find a heading, sail it, and see that you're exactly where you wanted to be with respect to your prey. Now you really are a Sea Wolf, instead of a Sea Mole.
You're giving yourself the same opportunity to succeed that real captains had, because these calculations were all done by the crew. It's simple vector math and easy trigonometry.