Bearing Vs Course

[AP514]

Heading is my Heading (say south is 180)
Course is the enemy ship heading relative to my heading ?(as in Question 1 ?
A few Question ??
1) I get reports that an enemy convoy is XX-xx lat. XX-xx long. and a course of 90... So If I am(my)Heading 180(South) then the enemy Convoy should be 270 ??
2) do the Contact Reports from the radio actually exist? (I seem to be having a very hard time finding them)

[bstanko6]

Ok you are backwards on it.

Heading and course are inclusive.

Your head/course is 180.

Bearing is where, in reference to your ship bow, the target ship is.

The course of the ship you mention is 90 as reported. If you are asking what the ship bearing is to your boat... not enough information.

We need your and the ship coordinates.

[Sniper297]

Course is the direction relative to north that the target is going, if the target is heading 090 TRUE then he's going east. His course would still be east if you were heading north south east or west, his course would be the same if you didn't exist. Bearing is the direction TO the target, there are two of those;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_(navigation)

European navies have a simpler method, zero to 180 degrees port or starboard from your own ship's bow. A target 45 degrees left of the bow would be RED 45, 135 degrees right of the bow would be GREEN 135. US Navy would say bearing 315 for 45 degrees left of the bow, the RELATIVE bearing is assumed unless unless otherwise specified as TRUE or MAGNETIC.

When you get a target report, location and heading tell you where it is and which way it's going, there would be no information on the relative bearing since the guy sending the radio message has no idea which way your ship is heading.

When you find his position on a map, draw a line from that position in the direction he's going, then plot an intercept course for yourself - don't head for where he is now, head for where he will be 12 hours or 24 hours from now (how far that is depends on his speed) and wait for him there.

[AP514]

So in 1 above the report states the convoy is in Lat. XX-xx, Long.XX-xx,course 90....

So if I mark the position on the Map the Convoy is moving due east(90) from that report ? correct ??

[XenonSurf]

A course is always related to magnetic pole (heading). Everything else is relative bearing, relative to your sub's heading. A bearing of 90° is always full right independant of your sub's course.

You are quite lucky to receive courses in the form of 90° etc., what I receive are estimations like N, S, NW, NNW, SSE etc. , but this is also not a problem to anticipate convoy routes, and often you can guess where they are heading. Your sonarman can also track targets up to 40 km in range, this helps a lot to correct wrong estimations.

Use a serie of supermarks to record a convoy's estimated course, noting the time at each point so you can make ETA calculations with the speed conversion charts.



Cheers,
XS

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi AP
Lost Your Bearings? > This Might Just Put You Right
Peter

[AP514]

Originally Posted by XenonSurf

You are quite lucky to receive courses in the form of 90° etc., what I receive are estimations like N, S, NW, NNW, SSE etc.
XS

I also get these on my reports. They are not always a degree.....

As far as the rest I am take'n baby steps learning the game..working my way up to learning how to intercept the convoys from the radio info I get.
Right now it seems more like I am a blind man searching atm.

Also what is with the convoys marked(Map) in my area that have No Radio or
Captain Log info ?? are they just red hearings...

[XenonSurf]

Originally Posted by AP514

I also get these on my reports. They are not always a degree.....

As far as the rest I am take'n baby steps learning the game..working my way up to learning how to intercept the convoys from the radio info I get.
Right now it seems more like I am a blind man searching atm.

Also what is with the convoys marked(Map) in my area that have No Radio or
Captain Log info ?? are they just red hearings...

If you go in the TWoS thread (mod section) you will find a very recent tutorial video made by Tonci87 about how to intercept a convoy. Very useful information provided.


[EDIT]
Here:

[XenonSurf]

Originally Posted by AP514

Also what is with the convoys marked(Map) in my area that have No Radio or
Captain Log info ?? are they just red hearings...

In the radio log but not in the captain's log: you can read and ignore these, it's for immersion only...They are not marked on the map and you will not find them in the world, unless it's a historical event that is defined by OHII (part of WoS).

Icons on the map without complete data, or in your captain's log:
Those are convoys or ships spotted for which there is uncomplete information because radiogoniometry was not able to provide exact speed, course etc. For that to happen the ship or convoy would need to send radio messages more times in order to get that data. (If they send messages only once, all you get is their position, nothing else.) When they do send more messages, you may find more complete data by clicking on their icons (if you play without Real Navigation) or you would need to receive an updated radio message from BDU about this contact if you play with RN.
Also be aware that convoys or ships could change their course after sending radio messages, messing up your calculations in the process. That's also what I do after using radio to disorientate hunter killers



XS