this is getting interesting, guys!!!

Yeah right... TDW is already planning to add wrecks.. soon.

But seriously, were these things functional in ww2? How were these lights powered? With candles or .... ?

Mmh, i think they use Petroleum, but not all Buoys are equipped with Lights. In the War there were less Buoys than normal, but i dont know.
An other Problem is, that they can used different Painting as today. I didnt find anything about that in the War.
But i think its o.k. to use green and red, so that anyone who drove an Uboat into the Port of Kiel, in Real Live know what to do in an Emergency Situation. :D

@Budds: i edited my last Post if you miss the Aswer of your Question.

"By 1910, Congress discontinued the Lighthouse Board and created the Lighthouse Service. The new agency was under the control of the secretary of commerce. The first Commissioner of Lighthouses was George Putnam. Putnam was the first and, very nearly, the last commissioner of the Lighthouse Service. His tenure extended from the service's inception until his retirement in 1935. Putnam did more for the cause of navigational aids and their maintenance than any other individual. He continued the Lighthouse Board's policy of experimentation and encouragement of new buoy designs. He also convinced Congress to allocate money for Lighthouse Service vessels, and crusaded for his employees. Under Putnam the most important advances in long-range aids took place. The United States led the way with the new technology - the radio beacon. The advent of radio-beacon technology made buoys, lightships and lighthouses "visible" from significantly greater distances. No longer did a mariner have to physically see a buoy. The radio beacon made it possible for vessels equipped with a radio direction finder to take a bearing up to 70 miles from a navigational aid and, once identified, set a course relative to the aid. Lighted buoys using compressed gas as a fuel gained popularity during Putnam's superintendence. Thirty years of trials and improvements, however, did not render the buoys entirely safe. The service issued instructions concerning safety in tending Pintsch, Willson, and American Gas Accumulator buoys because of the explosive nature of compressed gas. Most safety problems occurred during pressure tests. For example, in December 1910, an explosion of a Pintsch gas buoy killed a machinist attached to the tender Amaranth. The machinist had completed a routine pressure test and had shut down the compressor. According to Lighthouse Service reports, the buoy's cagework sheared away the mainmast of the Amaranth. The force of the explosion separated the top cone of the buoy from the body at the weld and hurled it through the roof of the depot's lamp shop. The blast forced the body of the buoy and its counterweight through the dock. The next issue of the Lighthouse Service Bulletin carried detailed instructions for pressure testing Pintsch gas buoys. The Willson buoy, designed and patented by Canadian inventor Thomas Willson, was inexplicably adopted by the Lighthouse Service. It also was a compressed- gas buoy, but worked on the carbide and water principle. Instead of pressurized gas, the fuel was solid calcium carbide, soaked with kerosene oil during the loading or "charging" process. This helped reduce the risk of explosion of the calcium carbide. The Willson buoy was charged by drying the inside of the buoy completely and applying mineral oil to the sides of the fuel chamber. The calcium carbide slid through a canvas chute into the chamber. This was risky business. Even with the best precautions the risk of explosion still existed, as happened aboard the tender Hibiscus in 1913. One explanation for this explosion was that a lump of carbide struck the side of the chamber and created a spark. This accident occurred in a dead calm. Charging this type of buoy on a blustery day or in a fast-moving current must have been exciting, if not nearly impossible."

From :
http://www.themaritimeguardians.com/...oy_history.cfm

:cool:

Some sand banks in harbors would be the next step . It would be way more interesting in game if you had to negotiate sand banks and use the buoy system , now that we have real navigation . Just another piece of the puzzle i am imagining .

Than i buy SH5 too.

They dont need any Mines with that Buoys. :o

@... i noticed that the sh file from sh3 and sh4 used for sounds the max volume to 200... the sh for sh5 can take max 100... because of that the sounds related to them are not heared (the first 3 of them) and the one wich is a bit louder you can hear just a bit... we need to rework again all hose 4 waves and to increase the volume in the wave sound:hmmm:

This book with 400 pages from year 1943
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/w...thouses_02.jpg


has all the infos for buoys, lighthouses of the world war II area: (one page extract below)
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/w...mg_0022_77.jpg
(flashsequence, operated with gas & petroleum & dark, which colour, exact position, etc etc)

Maybe Kartengruppe can help us out here and can offer a scan.

Wow, that will be a big Treasure. :arrgh!:

Mmh, while searching this, i found at the Site of the National Library of Australia the Uboothandbuch of the East Coast of North America online:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g370932cm+gct00203))
With Maps in it. Free Download, one Map has 18 MB. Perhaps you will need a jpg2000 Plugin.
Small Detail:
http://www.abload.de/img/karteuboothandbuchz847.jpg
Thanks Astralia! :salute:

I found no strong evidence about buoys being used in ww2 inside ports. IMHO it would be a suicide gesture to light up your port in time of war. Same as sailing into a convoy with the lights on.

So maybe they could be placed in neutral places, like straits, shallow waters ... or to signal a minefield.

But approaching a Port were very hazardous after Sunset, especially in the shallow Waters of the Northsea Coast. You need something to navigate the Ship, astronomical Navigation is useless there.
The Light of the Buoys light not so far as a Lighthouse ( you can see it above, 3-4 nm) and can simply camouflaged against Aircraft.

Most light houses and light buoys were turned off during WWII, not all though. some were just dimmed. Escort ships towing lighted buoys were used to guide ships into port during fog and nights.


http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/news_i...s/faqs.html#22

Make sens because the lights near ports show the position for enemy aircrafts in war time

Just to get this right.. when im leaving port I need to have on the right side of my ship the red buoys, and when I enter the port the green ones. Is this correct?

This mod have the following type of buoys:
Green Buoy Steady Light
Green Buoy Flashing Light

Red Buoy Steady Light
Red Buoy Flashing Light

Orange Buoy Steady Light
Orange Buoy Flashing Light

Danger Buoy Steady Light
Danger Buoy Flashing Light

Whats the difference between the flashing and steady lights, I mean.. where and when I use them? And whats with the Orange buoys? The danger ones have also 2 type.. flashing one is for big dangers like wrecks, mines etc and steady for shallow water?

Take a look at this website:

http://www.sailingissues.com/navcourse9.html