Ghost Ship?
 

Apologies if this has been raised before - I am very new to all this.
I am running SH3 with GWX Gold. Whilst returning from my third patrol (first patrol after the outbreak of hostilities) en-route to my base at Kiel via the 'Kattegat' I could see a passenger/cargo ship that was lit up like a Christmas Tree. This was just as I was about to navigate the 'Storebælt' straits - Danish waters but an international seaway before Denmark's capitulation - so a slim possibility that it could have been an enemy vessel en-route from Denmark to the UK.

The odd thing was that although I could see the ship quite clearly from the deck, with both periscopes and with the UZO (and I manoeuvred to within 500 Metres of it but couldn't make out the flag due to the glare), the crew could not see it. The Watch Officer reported 'no visible contact' and, although it was obviously a neutral vessel, I could not 'lock on' to it and it did not appear on my chart.

To use modern parlance, what was that all about?

Sometimes it happens your watch crew cannot see things that you can, especially in foggy weather or at night. Same thing about the hydrophone operator, who can detect ships up about 20 km, while you yourself might hear a propeller sound from a distance of more than 25-30 km in favourable conditions.

If this really annoys you, I suggest downloading a mod for GWX which makes your crew a bit more watchful.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...do=file&id=959

By the way, ghost ships do exist in GWX, take a look at this thread.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=143344

Also be aware that lit ships in GWX are always neutral.

I had assumed that to be the case - what puzzles me about this ship is that at one point it was between my position and a Danish tug boat that was at least 1000 Metres further away - the watch crew reported the tug boat and it also showed up as a single grey square on my chart but the nearer ship just wasn't there according to the crew and the chart . . .

The 'Lightship' is an environmental object ingame and therefore indestructible or registering on your hydrophone, hence a tug or similar vessel is scripted close by as a means of giving you advance warning of its presence.

You beat me to it!

This is probably what you saw. There is one near the mouth of the Irish sea, and another near the Holland end of the English channel. I use the Kiel canal, so I am not sure if another is near Denmark or not.

Yep, that explains it. I didn't think of that until I read the description of the tug. :sunny:

Wouldn't want anyone crashing into it or using all there eels and ammo for nothing now would we :)