Conning tower windows ?

[FlankSpeed]

Not related to SH3 at all but I figured someone on here probably knows about this....

Russian submarines seem to typically have large forward facing windows on their conning towers. No other nation's subs seem to incorperate this design feature and I've always wondered why this is the case.

I've always assumed they are for looking out of an enclosed secondary bridge, for when the sub is on the surface and the weather is foul or it is too cold to go up top.

But I've always wondered if you can sit up there when the sub is underwater, and stare out into the murky depths....

[Gargamel]

What would be the point? At the depths and the conditions the subs normally operate under, you would see just as much if there wasn't any windows. They don't have external lighting.

And IIRC, those windows are for maneuvering the boat while it is in harbor, allowing the crew to remain indoors but still see whats going on outside. This I'm not totally sure of, people more familiar with that class of boat would know.

[krashkart]

I posed a question similar to this one in a different forum here. The answer I got was that the spaces in the tower are flooded while the boat is submerged, including the area enclosed behind the windows.

Gargamel brings up a good point about the murkiness of the water. There really wouldn't be a whole lot to see anyway.

[kroll688]

You are correct about this area being the bridge when on the surface, the Officer of the Deck transfers his watch from the control room to the bridge when surfaced. The sheltered areas are due to cold conditions. The Russians use this feature due to longer surface transits in cold/artic conditions. It is a free flood area when submarged, subjected to sea pressure on both sides of the clear plastic window to keep it from breaking. US submarines have a smaller area but only use a portable windscreen made of plastic that is installed when rigging the bridge for surface, when rigging for dive conditions the windscreen is taken below decks.

[Collin Dougherty]

My guess is They use it to view and it is most likely bullet proof.
But they would have to flood the area behind it otherwise the glass would crack underwater

[FlankSpeed]

Thanks for all the replies. While I neglected to mention in the first post, it did always seem strange to me that submarines could have windowed areas and still operate at great depths, it never occured to me that they could simple flood the bridge when diving. I suppose the Barents Sea is a hellish place for sub crews to operate in, so any shelter must be apreciated when on the surface.

[bluehedgehog]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

At the depths and the conditions the subs normally operate under, you would see just as much if there wasn't any windows. They don't have external lighting.

That isn't the case with SH3, you can take out periscope while submerged and see stuff quite well, afair from 100-150 meters depth with periscope you see water surface, and ships in such range (maybe up to like 200+ meter).

Is that realistic?
Perhaps there is a mod that makes the underwater more foggy?

[bstanko6]

No it's not. The obs scope was the best one to use at night. I am trying to darken the attack scope so it is near useless at night.

At one time the best way to attack a ship was at night on the surface only.

[bluehedgehog]

Originally Posted by bstanko6

No it's not. The obs scope was the best one to use at night. I am trying to darken the attack scope so it is near useless at night.

At one time the best way to attack a ship was at night on the surface only.

Could someone make a mod for that? I guess just increasing a lot the fog in underwater view should do it.

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by bluehedgehog

Could someone make a mod for that? I guess just increasing a lot the fog in underwater view should do it.

I don't think it's worth it. The possible performance hits on some machines would far outweigh any immersion benefit you might encounter. The simple solution is to just not use your scope while submerged below scope depth.

And the view limit is small enough already that you can't see anything useful as it is. Maybe mines, but by the time you actually see one, it's probably too late anyways.