Target Speed Via Bow Wake
 

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

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

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.