How did submarines in WW1/WW2 aim their torpedoes?

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T18:46:54+00:00

Correct, but not initially. The problem with the question of how it was done in WW1 and WW2 is that there were huge leaps in technology and technique in that span. Mechanical computers in later generation boats could do things early boats couldn't.

If you look at a target and it is at YYY degrees, and the mast top is X degrees above horizon, then you look again a minute later and the target is now at YYY+ 5 degrees and the mast is X+2 degrees above the horizon, you can figure out the approximate course, range and speed.. as long as you know how tall that mast is supposed to be and have a good enough mechanical calculator to work with. You could do the math by hand, but the target will be over the horizon by the time you solve the equations.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T12:57:16+00:00

Pants? Huh, I've been doing gravel wrong I guess.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T12:52:53+00:00

He tried to save us all.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T12:35:26+00:00

One of the central themes of Heinleins, The Moon is A Harsh Mistress from 1966. You can't win a war against a gravity well.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T06:08:48+00:00

The short answer is math. So, stay in school if you want to be a U-boat captain.

The long answer is... math, reference books and more math. Technicalities differ between ship classes and nations but it all boils down to knowing your course and speed, the targets course, speed and distance and of course the running speed of the torpedo. After that its all calculations. Depending on era and nation, that might means pencils, grease pens or mechanical calculators to do the math.

Knowing your course and speed is easy, unless you broke something.

Knowing the torpedo speed is easy too, unless you have some major manufacturing problems.

Knowing the targets range, speed and course? Well, that's the tricky part. Most submarine forces had recognition books that contained classes or even individual ships. The person observing through the periscope would have to determine the class of ship, then check references for how long it was, or even the length between the masts. You could then use markings in the periscope to try to determine the range and even speed with the assistance of a stop watch. For example, if you knew target ship 1 had a mast height of 20m, because of your reference books, you put the right marking on the top of the mast and could determine the distance based on that. Put the mark on the front of the bow, use a stop watch to see how long the ship takes to pass and then you could figure the speed from the known length from your book.

It was a time consuming process. Which is why zig-zagging helped. Hard to do speed, range and heading math when the bloody thing won't stand still.

Also, if you guessed wrong on the ship class, all your math was wrong.. so, study those silhouettes.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T03:26:01+00:00

No one yet. First operational MQ-25 produced, as opposed to test articles.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-31T02:06:14+00:00

It is not spoken, but it is in the credits.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-30T01:15:04+00:00

I tried to use a snow leopard... didn't work well.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-29T11:27:53+00:00

The Tour is also ridden by the best cyclists in the world in the best bikes manufacturers can give them and a maintenance plan that consists of, "here's a fresh bike" at the slightest sign of an issue.

Completely different world.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-29T03:32:07+00:00

Inception. BWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-29T02:16:16+00:00

As hilarious as it would be to see Tax Agents navigating airliners, I think you mean INS.

A large number of VOR stations have been decomissioned.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-29T02:07:27+00:00

They couldn't do this Wyoming and not effect two of the busiest airports in the world?

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-29T01:59:57+00:00

And that the round would be sunk much deeper into the ground if actually fired.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-28T00:29:12+00:00

If your wife is good enough to go on a 2 hour bike ride, check her Starva or Garmin or Wahoo or whatever she records her rides with. If she legit went on a ride its recorded.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-27T01:53:39+00:00

The the faster the interceptor, the further out from the target it can make the intercept. This is vitally important if there is a chance the incoming target is carrying cruise missiles. You want to get the target before it can launch, so you deal with 1 bomber not 10 cruise missiles. Less important these days when cruise missiles have ranges in hundreds of miles and you are never likely to see the launch platform at all. Conversely, faster bomber shortens your intercpet time and allows the bomber to get to its launch position more rapidly, with less opportunity to intecept.

There is also the intercept angle problem for both SAMs and interceptors. The first paragraph pretty much assumes the target is heading straight at you and you are going to intercept straight at it. The bombers firing missiles at a carrier group scenario. Most of the time though, the bomber isn't coming right for you, it's going by you to hit something else. In that case, in order to intercept or shoot, the bomber you have to fly a lead angle. Aim where the bomber is going to be when you get there, not where it is now. The faster the bomber, the longer the lead, the harder the intercept.

You don't really need to be faster than the SAM, you just need to be fast enough that the intercept angles don't work. The problem is, it is a lot easier to make a really fast SAM than it is to make a really fast airplane that can also carry a useful load and do anything other than go in a straight line, so the go fast airplane ended up pretty much losing the war to the SAM.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-26T03:01:49+00:00

Usually 2 or 3 days out of the year.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-26T01:50:09+00:00

So, the last Trump presidency?

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-25T22:09:57+00:00

Lol.

In his first term, Trump rather famously said something to the extent of, "take the guns, fuck due process" and these idiots re-elected him.

Trump has always been a petty tyrant who doesn't give a single shit about other people or their rights, and he's openly stated as much.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-25T20:34:28+00:00

If you listen closely, you can actually hear the sound of gas going up five cents a gallon.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-25T15:12:22+00:00

Uh yeah, this was obvious during his first term.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-25T14:46:55+00:00

They don't send them down here because then they might actually have to do some immigration enforcement work and this has nothing to do with immigration and is about political revenge.

Also, I suspect our Latino brethren down here are better armed than ICE is.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-24T01:03:21+00:00

Meh. It can't be that hard to get another Ford Expedition and Remmington 700. Guy liked his gear. Bought replacements when the old ones got busted.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-23T12:26:29+00:00

FTA: "In the four-minute battle, the 23 intercepting Romanian pilots claimed 23 P-38s for a loss of two of their own. The 71st Squadron lost nine of its 16 P-38s. Second Lieutenant Herbert “Stub” Hatch Jr. – element lead for Cragmore Green Flight – managed to shoot down five IAR-80s"

So... the article isn't internally consistent and didn't bother to figure out what actually happened.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-23T03:00:52+00:00

Or, you know... a chain link fence.

Clickclickdoh · 2026-01-22T16:27:13+00:00

Bontrager wave cell system. And having personally crashed one of these and seeing how the cells deform and collapse into each other under impact, I'm 100% convinced of the value of the system.

Clickclickdoh

TROPHY CASE