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Originally Posted by Wildcat
There is an old method we used to use for destroyers in Destroyer Command as well, but I'm not sure if the method still works in DW, probably not, the sonar is totally different. Anyway, the way we'd detect a uboat's depth was by making a sonar run on a submerged contact and using the angle of the sonar energy to determine depth. For example if you made a run on a contact and the contact suddenly stopped producing ping returns at 250meters away, you could safely assume his depth was 250 meters, etc..
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Yeah, but WWII active sonar was good to maybe 1500 meters range, and depended on direct path sound propagation to get an accurate measure of depth. Modern low and medium frequency sonars use multiple sound paths through which they determine range - depth is not a consideration. If you are inside four miles from the sub these days, you are pretty much a dead man.
And it's not that big a deal because the sub's useable portion of the water column is not that big - what, 1,500, maybe 2,000 vertical feet at best? Not like an airplane that can be anywhere from zero to 50,000 feet plus.
There are ways to
determine depth on real sonobuoy grams and other displays, but it depends on a lot of stuff coming together at once and isn't necessarily useful, tactically.