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Originally Posted by Zosimus
... I also don't understand why people say it's 3:15. Doesn't 3:14.4 round down to 3:14? Not that it really matters.
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The 15 seconds is easy to see on the clock and add multiples in your head. It's easier to handle quarters of a minute than mentaly adding .23333 every time. That 1 second in 195 seconds total that it is off is insignificant.
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You should easily be able to use the three-bearing method to get the target's exact course, ....
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And I don't understand why you say "exact" here. As the 3 bearing method is far from exact as a practical method. To get an exact course you need to know the precise bearings (at least 1 fractional decimal), otherwise it results in a range of courses tens of degrees wide. It tested this with my
3-bearing AOB slideruler, only using bearings rounded to the degree as the crew reports them. This depends much on how long the time intervals were. Longer time intervals results in more degrees between the bearings and makes the result more granular. Also the problem in is you are using intersections of lines that are almost parallel, and that can result in wildly varying course and range results. Doesn't matter if you use the formula, or do it graphically. If you rely on the map plotting the exact thin line bearing then this could be somewhat of a cheat, similarly to using the target icon markers when plotting, as it seems to be fairly precise. In reality hydrophone set could not give that level of precision.
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Personally I have found the two-bearing method to be good enough. Even from a hydrophone, the two-bearing method gives a course and range that's close enough for government work. Range, generally speaking, has a negligible effect on torpedo solutions. It's only important for setting the spread angle on salvos.
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To my knowledge, there is no 2-bearing method that can give that level of information (course and range). Course needs at least 3 bearings. Otherwise you are assuming things that might not be true. Please explain how it works. Unless you mean 2 bearings with range measurements like the SH4 TDC does, or as on a maneuvering board is done. But that does not apply to SH3.