Quote:
Originally Posted by LoBlo
Thanks for the stories btw. Good stuff. Sorry for the randomness of the questions, they just come to me out the blue after I read something/see something and I don't know any RL sailors/submariners to ask.
Here's something I've always wondered about. On the Sturgeon class and LA class boats, how did the commanders keep track of all the contacts/ranges and actual tatical geometry that was happening around them. I found myself in DW mostly needing the NavMap to keep everything straightened otherwise the contacts all get confusing... do RL commanders on the LA/Sturgeons use a NavMap type of aid to keep things straightened out or was everything just kept in their head?
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The best thing for maintaining a tactical awareness IMHO was the Geoplot. Basically a table that had a mechanical light (we called the bug) that moved around the table based on ownships course/speed.
We would use a ruler attached to an arm on the table to draw bearing lines onto the paper placed on top of the table. The plot coordinator (one of the jobs I did) would then lay down various solution possibilities using rulers calibrated to different speeds.
After changing courses and speeds some solutions would be eliminted until the actual solution would remain. Even with all the fancy computers this tool was very popular with the most talented of the OODs.