course relative to bearing help ?

Firebird · 05-09-08, 03:55 PM

Look at that outer circle. Your submarine's bow is pointed in the direction of 0, so it's going left on that picture: <------<.

If you now spot a target 'bearing 25°', that means it's currently at 25° on that outer circle, so a bit to your right.

If you spot a target bearing 335° it's a bit to your left as you can see. The degrees are always counted clockwise starting from 0.

Now keep this in mind

. All of this is about relative bearing. Relative to what? To your submarine's bow, which is at 0°.

Introducing 'course': a ship is moving on a certain course, again expressed in degrees. Take that same circle, but rotate it clockwise one quarter so that the 0 on the outer circle is pointing upwards (north). Now you can see what each course means. If your submarine is on course 0°, it's going north (up). If it's on course 90° it's going due east, 180° south and 270° west. If a ship is reported going north-east, it's moving at a course of approximately 45° (up and right, diagonally). Don't forget, 0° is always pointing north (up) when talking about course, while 0° is always pointing to your submarine's bow when you're talking about bearing.

Now combine the two: your submarine might be on a course of 90° (due east >---->), and spot a target at bearing 270°. That means that when you look north (which is to the left of your bow), you'll see that target.

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05-09-08, 03:55 PM	#9
Firebird Torpedoman Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 111 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 0	Look at that outer circle. Your submarine's bow is pointed in the direction of 0, so it's going left on that picture: <------<. If you now spot a target 'bearing 25°', that means it's currently at 25° on that outer circle, so a bit to your right. If you spot a target bearing 335° it's a bit to your left as you can see. The degrees are always counted clockwise starting from 0. Now keep this in mind . All of this is about relative bearing. Relative to what? To your submarine's bow, which is at 0°. Introducing 'course': a ship is moving on a certain course, again expressed in degrees. Take that same circle, but rotate it clockwise one quarter so that the 0 on the outer circle is pointing upwards (north). Now you can see what each course means. If your submarine is on course 0°, it's going north (up). If it's on course 90° it's going due east, 180° south and 270° west. If a ship is reported going north-east, it's moving at a course of approximately 45° (up and right, diagonally). Don't forget, 0° is always pointing north (up) when talking about course, while 0° is always pointing to your submarine's bow when you're talking about bearing. Now combine the two: your submarine might be on a course of 90° (due east >---->), and spot a target at bearing 270°. That means that when you look north (which is to the left of your bow), you'll see that target.