Navigation during WWII

I'm trying to collect precise info about navigating ships and especially u-boats. Were they using some special equipment to register their track or simple map plotting and celestial nav if possible? Quick maneuvers during heavy DC attack were rather hard to plot on map but also the distance made wasn't so big. I'm just reading Alistair MacLeans HMS Ulisses which might be not a great historical source but there is an "auto-navigator device" mentioned. Hard to find anything on google except V2 internal nav system but that was late war.

In general: how they did it and how exact was it. I'm into real navigation mod for SH3 to keep things even more challenging but need to collect lot's of info not to make it impossible... as I've just encountered recently going way off course during heavy sea state.

Best regards

[AntEater]

Automatic navigation in the WW2 sense would mean an automatic plotting system.
Instead of some quartermaster of the watch actually drawing the course lines on the map, an "automatic pencil" does that, which still needs manual input regarding course and speed.
The system would have absolutely no way to compensate for anything but would be totally dependent on outside data, which in WW2 meant celestial or terrestric navigation.
It just replaces the pencil.

Originally Posted by AntEater

The system would have absolutely no way to compensate for anything but would be totally dependent on outside data, which in WW2 meant celestial or terrestric navigation.
It just replaces the pencil.

Those few simple words explain a lot. Thx!

Do you know some more details about that device or you could give me something to ask google? Was it drawing on an actual map or was that just constantly plotting on a long piece of paper?

[Heibges]

Uboat Commanders were much better than their Luftwaffe counterparts in keeping track of position at sea. Recon Planes who would radio position of Allied convoys to Wolfpacks often sent them to the wrong location. So Doenitz ordered the planes to broadcast a beacon, and the uboats would home in on it.

The uboats also had the ability to broadcast this beacon, but because they were better at keeping their positions, it was safer for them to just send the positions short signal.