Seafaring question…

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Hate to say this, but it depends on the weather and the scope that he was using, along with the height above water from which he was looking. Good weather, good glass, low elevation on board, would still enable well over 5 miles.

This is off the top of my head as a WAG estimate, but I was a naval officer, although I had better binoculars than he would have had.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The distance to the horizon is straight forward mathematical formula.

E eye-height(feet) ​	H boat-height(feet)​	d1 eye-to-horizon(miles)​	d2 horizon-to-boat(miles)​	d1+d2 eye-to-boat(miles)​
0​	20​	0​	5.5​	5.5​
0​	40​	0​	7.8​	7.8​
0​	60​	0​	9.5​	9.5​
6​	20​	3.0​	5.5​	8.5​
6​	40​	3.0​	7.8​	10.8​
6​	60​	3.0​	9.5​	12.5​
10​	20​	3.9​	5.5​	9.4​
10​	40​	3.9​	7.8​	11.7​
10​	60​	3.9​	9.5​	13.4​

Link:

Where is the Horizon

Note: During the Civil War ten miles east of Murfreesboro TN was Fort Transit signal station. It was atop Pilot Knob, which provided a commanding 360 degree view of the horizon.

On cold clear nights a turpentine torch was used to signal directly to Fort Negley station 41 miles away in Nashville. The signals were sighted using large telescopes.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

The distance to the horizon is straight forward mathematical formula.

E eye-height(feet) ​	H boat-height(feet)​	d1 eye-to-horizon(miles)​	d2 horizon-to-boat(miles)​	d1+d2 eye-to-boat(miles)​
0​	20​	0​	5.5​	5.5​
0​	40​	0​	7.8​	7.8​
0​	60​	0​	9.5​	9.5​
6​	20​	3.0​	5.5​	8.5​
6​	40​	3.0​	7.8​	10.8​
6​	60​	3.0​	9.5​	12.5​
10​	20​	3.9​	5.5​	9.4​
10​	40​	3.9​	7.8​	11.7​
10​	60​	3.9​	9.5​	13.4​

Link:

Where is the Horizon

View attachment 534132
Note: During the Civil War ten miles east of Murfreesboro TN was Fort Transit signal station. It was atop Pilot Knob, which provided a commanding 360 degree view of the horizon.

On cold clear nights a turpentine torch was used to signal directly to Fort Negley sGtation 41 miles away in Nashville. The signals were sighted using large telescopes.

Good reply.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Good reply.

It is hard to explain how vision works at sea. We were in the Gulf Stream. I was on bow watch, a lookout. Something on the horizon kept catching my eye, but just. So I climbed up to the fore top & could clearly see a small sharp white triangle bobbing up erratically. It was the top of the mast of a big trimaran. They had seen our 100' tall main topsail long before I saw them. I had come on watch at 4:00 am, so never did see her come alongside. When they saw our Nelson checker come hull up, they couldn't believe their eyes.

 

[rebelatsea]

Weather and atmospheric conditions at sea can play some strange tricks on the eye, the sighting reports during the Bismark chase are a case in point. Ships seemed to appear and disappear in clear visability. Spotters on HMS Norfolk saw Bismark clearly when she was actually out of technical visibility range - but image reversed as one example. HMS Suffolk clearly saw Iceland - but upside down ! At night of course this just becomes worse. Add fog and ice haze. I gather that these phenomenon are due to layers of sea and atmospheric temperatures. I read recently that some scientists have speculated that this could have lured the Titanic to disaster.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The first question is what the weather is. If clear and sunny, then the second question is how high is the man who is seeing the ship. If you are on the deck of a small schooner, you can see about 5 miles to the horizon -- you can see beyond the horizon if the target is tall enough for its upper works to be seen, even though the waterline cannot be seen. For your story, we need to know how high the ironclad rises out of the water -- monitors would probably not be identifiable from a schooner's deck any farther than the horizon (5 miles). If it is larger than a monitor, you can go with 7 or 8 miles. No one is going to fault you if you use anything between 5 and 8 miles, so use what your story needs withing those ranges.

"Hull Down" | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

This isn't specifically a Civil War naval topic, but I'll ask Mark's forbearance in allowing it, as it may be of interest to some. If you read much naval history or fiction, especially that takes place in the age of sail, you'll come across the term that another vessel is "hull down." This...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Benji]

I spent two years at sea aboard an old left over World War Two LST and I was told that because of the curvature of the earth, about 15 miles is the maximum distance a person can see another ship at sea, and assuming a clear sky! Of course this also depends on how far up you are standing from the level of the water, and depending on how high the highest visible point of the other ship is. If his sails are fully deployed it should be fairly easy to see it.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I spent two years at sea aboard an old left over World War Two LST and I was told that because of the curvature of the earth, about 15 miles is the maximum distance a person can see another ship at sea, and assuming a clear sky! Of course this also depends on how far up you are standing from the level of the water, and depending on how high the highest visible point of the other ship is. If his sails are fully deployed it should be fairly easy to see it.

Thought you might appreciate seeing LST 325 in Nashville. It's home port is Evansville, Indiana where it was built. The LST is fully restored to WWII appearance. A Normandy veteran, post war service in the Hellenistic Navy saved it from the wreckers.

The bow is pointed up stream into the Cumberland River's current. Without bow thrusters I have wondered how they turned around. The only place wide enough is down stream through three bridges. One of them is a pivoting RR bridge.

The comparison with buildings on lower Broad Street, where the historic landing was, emphasizes the impressive scale of LST 325.

I am guessing your idea of rock & roll is a bit different from revelers on Lower Broad Street.

Link:

USS LST-325 | WWII Landing Ship – Only operational LST in WWII configuration afloat in US waters

www.lstmemorial.org

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

View attachment 534644

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View attachment 534645

View attachment 534643

Thought you might appreciate seeing LST 325 in Nashville. It's home port is Evansville, Indiana where it was built. The LST is fully restored to WWII appearance. A Normandy veteran, post war service in the Hellenistic Navy saved it from the wreckers.

The bow is pointed up stream into the Cumberland River's current. Without bow thrusters I have wondered how they turned around. The only place wide enough is down stream through three bridges. One of them is a pivoting RR bridge.

The comparison with buildings on lower Broad Street, where the historic landing was, emphasizes the impressive scale of LST 325.

I am guessing your idea of rock & roll is a bit different from revelers on Lower Broad Street.

Link:

USS LST-325 | WWII Landing Ship – Only operational LST in WWII configuration afloat in US waters

www.lstmemorial.org

I like your photos. I served one month on an old WWII LSD before it was decommissioned, and then 3 years on a newer LSD. They were the USS San Marcos (LSD-25) and the USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32).

 

[Rhea Cole]

I like your photos. I served one month on an old WWII LSD before it was decommissioned, and then 3 years on a newer LSD. They were the USS San Marcos (LSD-25) and the USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32).

The 325 is tied up at what was the launching slipway for Nashville Bridge Co's barge launches. That was something to see. They built mine sweepers during WWII. Interestingly there is a sort of Noah's Ark wooden LST at Fort Knox. It was used to test & train for loading / off loading.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

The 325 is tied up at what was the launching slipway for Nashville Bridge Co's barge launches. That was something to see. They built mine sweepers during WWII. Interestingly there is a sort of Noah's Ark wooden LST at Fort Knox. It was used to test & train for loading / off loading.

Interesting, @Rhea Cole! The USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) was intentionally sunk after decommissioning, and was turned into a diving site off the coast of Miami.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Interesting, @Rhea Cole! The USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) was intentionally sunk after decommissioning, and was turned into a diving site off the coast of Miami.

I looked them up. The fishing was rated very highly. The first San Marcos was sunk during Billy Mitchell's air attack trials. It also is a good fishing spot. Kind of a curious twosome. I see that the monstrous SS United States is being prepped as a sunken reef off Miami, as well. A curious sort of connection, ¿no?

 

[Rhea Cole]

Do you know where one can find a record of the command changes for every ship? I haven't been able to, thus far.

in the NavSource link I posted up thread the commanders for each commissioned vessel in both navies are listed.

Look under Old Navy Steam & Sail index. Monitors listed under battleships.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Anniversary Bump



09 Sept 1861

Nova Scotia. USS Cambridge, Commander William A Parker, captured the schooner Louisa Agnes off the coast.

View attachment 560303
Currier & Ives lithograph "The Blockade on the 'Connecticut Plan' Library of Congress Catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/90711961

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098612803.png

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

What is that… a topsail schooner rig? Smokestack where the mainmast should be. Very odd.

 

[USS ALASKA]

What is that… a topsail schooner rig? Smokestack where the mainmast should be. Very odd.

The first Cambridge, an armed screw steamer, was built in 1860 by Paul Curtis, Medford, Mass.; purchased at Boston 30 July 1861; and commissioned 29 August 1861, Commander W. A. Parker in command.

DANFS

Cheers,
USS ALASKA