Finding your position in WWII naval warfare

Tonnage_Ace · 12-19-06, 05:33 AM

I know that today's GPS can pinpoint your position to within a meter but how accurate was it in WWII to find where you were? I know they used the sextant and I read a little bit about it on wiki but I want some feedback from you guys, I'm sure more than one of you has an actual sextant or sees it as a hobby so tell me what you know! Thanks in advance...

P.S.: does anyone know how much a decent sextant would cost? where would I go about buying one?

raduz · 12-19-06, 05:43 AM

i cant answer your questions but if you are interested, i suggest you to have a look on dantenocs tutorial explaining how to navigate in SH3 without seeing your position on the chart. (he fakes the sextant method). here is the link :

MRV · 12-19-06, 06:24 AM

Well, I have a german licence for boats in coastal areas. They teach you how to navigate with visible landmarks but not how to find your position if you have no visual on some fix spots.
But the instructor explained it to us once, saying that modern navigators still need to know this in case of failures and well....just because they are sailors.

Ships write down which speed they had how long on which course. They draw it on the map just like in the SH3 navscreen. This gives a rough idea where they are, but doesn't include winds and current of course. However, they TRY to calculate how much drift they have by knowing local conditions. (Typical winds and currency, weather report).
And then there is the sextant of course, which can only be used at night.
This way, a navigator collects as many data as he is able to to determine the position of the ship.

This never is 100 % reliable, depending on seastate and weather. You can see this problem in one scene of Das Boot.

Another data source they could have are beacons, like the ones used in aviation. But I don't know if these were present in WW2.

12-19-06, 05:33 AM	#1
Tonnage_Ace XO Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver Posts: 411 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Finding your position in WWII naval warfare I know that today's GPS can pinpoint your position to within a meter but how accurate was it in WWII to find where you were? I know they used the sextant and I read a little bit about it on wiki but I want some feedback from you guys, I'm sure more than one of you has an actual sextant or sees it as a hobby so tell me what you know! Thanks in advance... P.S.: does anyone know how much a decent sextant would cost? where would I go about buying one?

12-19-06, 05:43 AM	#2
raduz Engineer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Slovakia Posts: 205 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	i cant answer your questions but if you are interested, i suggest you to have a look on dantenocs tutorial explaining how to navigate in SH3 without seeing your position on the chart. (he fakes the sextant method). here is the link :

12-19-06, 06:24 AM	#3
MRV Frogman Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 296 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 0	Well, I have a german licence for boats in coastal areas. They teach you how to navigate with visible landmarks but not how to find your position if you have no visual on some fix spots. But the instructor explained it to us once, saying that modern navigators still need to know this in case of failures and well....just because they are sailors. Ships write down which speed they had how long on which course. They draw it on the map just like in the SH3 navscreen. This gives a rough idea where they are, but doesn't include winds and current of course. However, they TRY to calculate how much drift they have by knowing local conditions. (Typical winds and currency, weather report). And then there is the sextant of course, which can only be used at night. This way, a navigator collects as many data as he is able to to determine the position of the ship. This never is 100 % reliable, depending on seastate and weather. You can see this problem in one scene of Das Boot. Another data source they could have are beacons, like the ones used in aviation. But I don't know if these were present in WW2.