gradenko_2000 posted:

The Saurus posted:

Was it relative bearing or true bearing, and which way were we heading at the time of the attack? Remember that 350 is 10 degrees left of the direction the sub is facing for relative bearing.

I'm pretty sure sailors always use relative bearing when referring to anything besides the course.

Going all the way back to the first update on page 2:

Magnetic North posted:

Foster: This is the passage charts, sir. This is patrol area Yankee Victor. Our current position via VLF nav fix is here, waypoint lisa. Our current heading is 045. Our speed is 5 knots.

A heading of 045 would be a North-Easterly heading exactly. After that, our decisions were:

CO: At best speed, what are the probable positions of a submarine that exited the Mediterranean 72 hours ago?

CO: Kilo class submarine. Export type... possibly with a performance upgrade.

<page 3>

CO: Standard speed will be sufficient, but let's go deep. See that sonar watches are doubled, as well.

[if this response changed our heading, the game/update didn't tell us about it]

[at this point there's the exchange between the Deputy Director Matthews and Admiral Plaskett, and then we're called into sonar about a contact]

CO: Do you have a contact, Ensign?

Foster: It's a Russian Akula class submarine, sir. About 120 miles north.

CO: Can you give me a course and speed on this contact?

Foster: Her speed is constant: about 34 knots. That would make her about 110, 120 miles away. Now, I can't be exact in terms of bearing, but my best guess would be 180/190.

[at this point we talk to Plaskett]

CO: What's your best analysis, Sir. Is this Akula looking for the Kilo too?

<page 5>

CO: I want to go deep and get quiet. The Kilo is our major worry right now.

CO: Let's get a look at the chart. I want to get an idea where all the players are.

Foster Main Control. Sonar. Hydrophone effects. Transient torpedo doors opening. Bearing 350.

<page 6>

CO: Sound the general alarm. Take evasive action.

XO: Helmsman, left full rudder, all ahead flank, steady on course 270.

Foster: Conn, Sonar. Hydrophone effect. Bearing 350.

[and then we get destroyed]

===

Analysis: We were travelling North-Easterly at a heading of 045 absolute, then we detect an Akula class on a bearing of 180-190 relative, which would be right behind us.

We later get shot at by the Kilo from bearing 350 relative, which would be a little off to our left, which means he was North/Northeast of us. We change course to 270 absolute, which is directly East, and then get shot at again from 350 relative, which is still to our left. But if we were already heading East, then 'left' would mean that the shot came from the South/SouthWest.

While the first torpedo shot supports that the theory that the Kilo is actually North of our position, the second shot does not, unless we attribute that to large shifts in positioning due to our own evasive actions.

This was bugging the hell out of me, so I made a graphical representation:



Our initial heading was 045 degrees absolute, or the red line. It can't be 045 relative, because there's nothing for it to be relative to.

The Akula supposedly had a bearing of 180. If that's 180 relative, then it's the yellow line. If that's 180 absolute, then it's the blue line. Either way, the Akula was somewhere south of us.

The Kilo then shot at us from a bearing of 350. If that's 350 relative, then it's the green line. If that's 350 absolute, then it's the purple line. Either way, the Kilo was somewhere north of us.

We then change course to 270 absolute, which is the orange line, and then get shot at from a bearing of 350 again. If that's 350 relative, then it's the white line. If that's 350 absolute, then it's the purple line again.