about ship names

[Kristian2]

I was wondering with sh3 Commander ships are assigned names, but is that only to the ships you sink and appear in the log file, so an administrative matter? It would be nice to have ship names appear on the hull as well, but that's probably not easily done.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Kristian2

I was wondering with sh3 Commander ships are assigned names, but is that only to the ships you sink and appear in the log file

Yes.

It would be nice to have ship names appear on the hull as well, but that's probably not easily done.

I don't know how (or if) this could be done but I suspect that, yes, it would take a lot of work. I'm guessing you'd have to have some kind of file for each ship name that would then be incorporated into the graphical rendering of each ship when it appears in the game, and those files would have to be "attached" in some way to the correct class/nationality of ship.

Obviously the game generates a specific flag for each ship that's rendered depending on its nationality, but that's a comparatively small and limited number of flags and countries spread over all the ships in the game. Not one individual flag per individual ship, which would be the case with names.

[Sailor Steve]

Then names are assigned by SH3 Commander after the patrol is done.

Merchant ships didn't carry names on the hulls during wartime, so that works out quite well. Sometimes a kaleun could get the name from the survivors, but like as not the claimed sinking had to be compared with what ships were missing after the convoy reached port. What we have is the best SH3 can do, and compared to how many mistakes were made in real life, it's not too bad at all.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Then names are assigned by SH3 Commander after the patrol is done.

Merchant ships didn't carry names on the hulls during wartime, so that works out quite well. Sometimes a kaleun could get the name from the survivors, but like as not the claimed sinking had to be compared with what ships were missing after the convoy reached port. What we have is the best SH3 can do, and compared to how many mistakes were made in real life, it's not too bad at all.

Ah, well that's true enough, I hadn't even thought about all the times I've read about a commander having to question survivors to find out what ship he just sank. So it wouldn't really make sense to have that info readily available in-game just by reading it off the hull.

[Kristian2]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Merchant ships didn't carry names on the hulls during wartime, so that works out quite well.

I didn't know that, however the movie in the menu where a merchant is sunk carries a name 'Radames' if I'm right.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

What we have is the best SH3 can do, and compared to how many mistakes were made in real life, it's not too bad at all.

Sure.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kristian2

I was wondering with sh3 Commander ships are assigned names, but is that only to the ships you sink and appear in the log file, so an administrative matter? It would be nice to have ship names appear on the hull as well, but that's probably not easily done.

Perhaps in a few years time with a newer and far more powerful game engine.

In fact, some ships did leave their names visible but the practice was very rare and (certainly in the case of the major maritime powers) would have been in defiance of strict admiralty doctrine/orders, therefore only allowed if the Captain of the vessel wasn't opposed to the idea and the country of registry was invariably one of 'conveniance'.

Originally Posted by Kristian2

I didn't know that, however the movie in the menu where a merchant is sunk carries a name 'Radames' if I'm right.

Sure.

The link below will show you the propaganda footage of the sinking.

http://www.singapore-ww2-militaria.com/trailer3.html

Notice....she sails under the Egyptian flag.

[frau kaleun]

IIRC the Radames by that time was an Egyptian ship, and officially Egypt was a neutral country for most of the war. Whether that has anything to do with her ships being marked or unmarked, I don't know.

OTOH her neutrality was in some ways more of a technicality than anything else since, despite having been an "independent" nation for the previous 20 years or so, Egypt was still occupied by British troops (as permitted by treaty in the event of war), and was still dominated in many ways by British economic and political interests. And obviously the fighting in North Africa pretty much revolved around gaining or maintaining control over Egyptian territory since the Suez Canal made doing so a matter of vital strategic importance.

[frau kaleun]

@Jimbuna: but was the Radames' name really on her hull as shown in the film, or was that somehow faked for the propaganda flick as well? Cuz I did wonder about that.

Didn't know the film showing her sinking was actually shown as some other, perhaps fictional kaleun's achievement.

[Sailor Steve]

SS Radames was indeed Egyptian, built in Britain in 1903.

She was torpedoed and sunk on May 20, 1941 by U-103, commanded by Victor Schütze, with the loss of one life.

[Kristian2]

Possible in the future or not, it is then not historically correct to have them on ships, although U-boots had emblems, and there is a fix for that. As long as it is historically accurate, and that is what makes SH3 with GWX (and WAC I recently discovered) such an interesting game.
I wonder if SH5 with whatever future releases (if any) and possible supermods perhaps made available in the distant future, will ever eclipse SH3 with all the dedication that has gone into this game so far, but that's another matter.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Kristian2

I wonder if SH5 with whatever future releases (if any) and possible supermods perhaps made available in the distant future, will ever eclipse SH3 with all the dedication that has gone into this game so far, but that's another matter.

Well, people like Iambecomelife have already made pre-war skins for his ships so they're brightly colored with company names on them, and after the war starts they turn grey. It would be possible to have skins with names on them, but they wouldn't match the names Commander gave after the fact, so it would look cool but wouldn't mean much in the game.

SH5 does seem to have some tricks people are just discovering. I don't own a copy yet but I have been shown a screen of how the names work in that one, and it looks like it may be easy to have names assigned to not only the right countries but even to the right companies.

Unfortunately there are barely any merchants in SH5 so far, so it's not really worth it to look at it yet. But the future may indeed be brighter than we think.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

SS Radames was indeed Egyptian, built in Britain in 1903.

She was torpedoed and sunk on May 20, 1941 by U-103, commanded by Victor Schütze, with the loss of one life.

Thereis 5 days differene between 'us'....I wil check my souce tomorrow and respond.

I hoper for the sake of humanity you are right

[Sailor Steve]

The only sources I have handy are The World's Merchant Fleets 1939 and Uboat.net, either or both of which could be wrong. Oh, wait. I suppose that if they agree then they would both have to be right or wrong.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The only sources I have handy are The World's Merchant Fleets 1939 and Uboat.net, either or both of which could be wrong. Oh, wait. I suppose that if they agree then they would both have to be right or wrong.

It would appear your right (presuming my source is correct as well)

Sunk on 20th May 40 by U-103.

My source:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...1&seller=#noop

I don't know if you remember but I was unable to attend last years SS Meet because it clashed with my 25th wedding anniversary...anyhow, whilst at the Lake District I stumbled upon one of those tourist type bookstores that are full of guides on hill walking and new books that have wained in their popularity in the high street stores etc.

I'm always on the lookout for a military title to read when away so in I went and much too my amazement not only did they have a military section but also a submarine/U-boat sub section.

I picked the above title up for £7.99

The one below for £5.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/U-Boats-Dest...8689245&sr=8-5

This one for £5.99 also (no image available from Amazon)

http://www.uboat.net/books/item/251

All are brand new.

We've booked the same house this year w/c Sat 28th August and will be taking the family hound plus my daughter and her boyfriend:

http://www.britainexpress.com/cottages/lda209_1.php#

I reckon you already know which shop I'll be visiting first

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

It would appear your right (presuming my source is correct as well)

Sunk on 20th May 40 by U-103.

My source:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...1&seller=#noop

I don't know if you remember but I was unable to attend last years SS Meet because it clashed with my 25th wedding anniversary...anyhow, whilst at the Lake District I stumbled upon one of those tourist type bookstores that are full of guides on hill walking and new books that have wained in their popularity in the high street stores etc.

I'm always on the lookout for a military title to read when away so in I went and much too my amazement not only did they have a military section but also a submarine/U-boat sub section.

I picked the above title up for £7.99

The one below for £5.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/U-Boats-Dest...8689245&sr=8-5

This one for £5.99 also (no image available from Amazon)

http://www.uboat.net/books/item/251

All are brand new.

We've booked the same house this year w/c Sat 28th August and will be taking the family hound plus my daughter and her boyfriend:

http://www.britainexpress.com/cottages/lda209_1.php#

I reckon you already know which shop I'll be visiting first

Very nice, had my last few holidays/short breaks up there (how quick is it to get to on Christmas Day!!!!) but this year we've plumped for Herefordshire. Was this bookshop in the Lakes proper or in Carlisle as I found a good one last year with a massive basement (but before I got SH3/subsim.com )

And the shop will be a Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter one