Why do we use KMs?

[simonmd]

This is a bit odd dont you think? I know the devs are based in a Metric country but the worldwide measurement unit used at sea is NOT the kilometer. It is the Nautical Mile or NM for short, metric measurements are NEVER used so why do we have them?

[Dont_Care_2015]

They could add a choice for it.

I live in a metric country, I prefer like that but I think people should have the choice to change it.

[GulvkluderGuld]

I think that is simplification for the players.

 

Also, I dont seem to recall gun-ranges getting discussed in nautical miles, but I'm no military buff.

 

I like the metric choice because it's a scale everyone (in europe) will be familiar and comfortable with.

[Nechrom]

Except you'll be hard pressed to find many who know what a nautical mile is, hence the choice.

[gorichan]

But the speed is in knots, it even says so on the stat cards. Don't know where you've found kilometers.

[simonmd]

I too live in a metric country (Spain), however as soon as you step onto a boat, the KM simply DOES NOT EXIST and I have done alot of sailing around Europe and used to own my own boat so I should know. There is also a good reason for this, there HAS to be a world wide standard or a ship coming into a port could missunderstand when asked to keep a certain distance from rocks or another ship for example. Just as airspeed is ALWAYS quoted in one unit, speed and distance is ALWAYS knots and NM at sea. 

 

Its no big deal in the game of course, i'm not going to run aground because of the units used, I also dont see how it could possibly cause confussion, surely no one is going to say "hey that doesnt look 5 NM away.." etc. its all just a label. Youy could call them 'thingys' and we'd all know that a ship with a gun range of 10 thingys can shoot at something 9 thingys away! The point is, it just seems to me to be a bit naive and lazy to use this measurement when it simple doesnt exist in the real world and shows a lack of knowledge about the subject in general.

[Nechrom]

I too live in a metric country (Spain), however as soon as you step onto a boat, the KM simply DOES NOT EXIST and I have done alot of sailing around Europe and used to own my own boat so I should know. There is also a good reason for this, there HAS to be a world wide standard or a ship coming into a port could missunderstand when asked to keep a certain distance from rocks or another ship for example. Just as airspeed is ALWAYS quoted in one unit, speed and distance is ALWAYS knots and NM at sea. 

 

Its no big deal in the game of course, i'm not going to run aground because of the units used, I also dont see how it could possibly cause confussion, surely no one is going to say "hey that doesnt look 5 NM away.." etc. its all just a label. Youy could call them 'thingys' and we'd all know that a ship with a gun range of 10 thingys can shoot at something 9 thingys away! The point is, it just seems to me to be a bit naive and lazy to use this measurement when it simple doesnt exist in the real world and shows a lack of knowledge about the subject in general.

 

But the nautical mile is defined by the metric system, so I don't really see your point. It's just a unit of measurement which isn't known by most people, so WG opted to not use it.

[BlackSamBellamy]

1 nautical mile = 1,852216 km

1 land mile = 1,609344 km (international mile, there exist different versions, also a chinese one )

[Nechrom]

1 nautical mile = 1,852216 km

1 land mile = 1,609344 km (international mile, there exist different versions, also a chinese one )

 

No.

1 nautical mile = 1,852 km

[simonmd]

 

But the nautical mile is defined by the metric system, so I don't really see your point. It's just a unit of measurement which isn't known by most people, so WG opted to not use it.

 

Fair answer IF they hadnt used Knots as the measument of speed. By the same token, who knows what a knot is? (without Googling it) Sorry, but if it was KPH and KMs then fine, but it isnt, its Knots and KMs. The two just simply arnt used together ANYWHERE in the world and sorry, but If quoted any distance to any half decent sailor in kilometers, i'd be laughed it. Its plain WRONG.  

[SeGram]

Imagine all these topics on the forums: What is NM???? How much is it????

 

[simonmd]

Rubbish, why dont we have "what is a Kt? How much is it?" all over the firms then? I don't see why you cant see that it looks down right amateurish to mix the two like this. WHY have they used Knots then? It's because it sounds right no doubt, no one who isnt a real sailor can say for certain what a knot is in relation to KmPH or MPH etc. I guarantee it. Yet we all know that 20 kts is slow and 35kts is fast and thats all we need to know, by the same token, a Nautical Mile is not a huge difference from a standard mile or even a KM so we'd still understand that 5 NM is closer than 10NM! I just dont get this 'well, people will understand it better' statement that seems to be the only defense, the fact that speed is measured in Knots totally contradicts that.

[Nechrom]

 

Fair answer IF they hadnt used Knots as the measument of speed. By the same token, who knows what a knot is? (without Googling it) Sorry, but if it was KPH and KMs then fine, but it isnt, its Knots and KMs. The two just simply arnt used together ANYWHERE in the world and sorry, but If quoted any distance to any half decent sailor in kilometers, i'd be laughed it. Its plain WRONG.  

 

I have no idea why they chose to keep Knots as the measurement for speed. Only people with interest in nautical history will even know the historical speeds of these ships in the first place, so I couldn't begin to guess what their reasoning was for this choice.

 

I'd guess that for distance it was an easy choice since you're dealing with a lot of short distances below 1 NM, while speed on the other hand was okay to keep as Knots.

But yeah, I'd wish they were more consistent with their units.

[Akula971]

Gun range, in the Navies that mattered was quoted in yards.

[Leif_GG_Persson]

Short version: You're wrong.

 

Slightly longer version: For the stats that actually are measured in nautical miles (ie speed), we already use it. Speed in WoWs is measured in knots. For naval artillery, nautical miles has never been used in any modern navy as far as I know. The british, and I assume americans, used yards and I am certain the germans used kilometres. The Russians, as we all know, didn't have a navy so what they used is irrelevant. ;)

 

Furthermore, the modern nautical mile (the original nautical mile(s) was scrapped in 1929), is first of all based on the metric system anyway, and second, is a clunky, idiotic measurement that only persists because of pig headedness and tradition. Much like feet, yards, inches and the 1/8s, 1/16s (and so on) they come in. Let's be thankful that most of the game uses the more sensible unit, the kilometer.

[simonmd]

But youre missing the point, the KM 'may' be the most recognized but in the real world at sea IT IS NOT USED, simple. If we had speed in KPH i could forgive it as part of the whole 'universal understanding thing' as of course, the vast majority of the people here are not sailors, or even likely to be however, the fact theyve used Knots for speed and KMs for distance just makes no sense from EITHER perspective, they both contradict each other, cant you see that?

 

Imagine a racing game, Forza, Project Cars, whatever, surely you would expect the readout on the speedometer to match the distances on the road / circuit? I've played many where they are KPH-KM or MPH-Miles, never have I seen KPH on a track measured in Miles or vice versa!

[Leif_GG_Persson]

But youre missing the point, the KM 'may' be the most recognized but in the real world at sea IT IS NOT USED, simple. If we had speed in KPH i could forgive it as part of the whole 'universal understanding thing' as of course, the vast majority of the people here are not sailors, or even likely to be however, the fact theyve used Knots for speed and KMs for distance just makes no sense from EITHER perspective, they both contradict each other, cant you see that?

 

Imagine a racing game, Forza, Project Cars, whatever, surely you would expect the readout on the speedometer to match the distances on the road / circuit? I've played many where they are KPH-KM or MPH-Miles, never have I seen KPH on a track measured in Miles or vice versa!

 

Did you even read what I wrote? Nautical miles are NOT used at sea for artillery ranges, which is what matters in this game.

[Glaukenstucken]

 Slightly longer version: For the stats that actually are measured in nautical miles (ie speed), we already use it. Speed in WoWs is measured in knots. For naval artillery, nautical miles has never been used in any modern navy as far as I know. The british, and I assume americans, used yards and I am certain the germans used kilometres. The Russians, as we all know, didn't have a navy so what they used is irrelevant. ;)

 

I believe Germans used HM, hectometers, in naval artillery as well as torpedo ranging. Some nations still use hectometers in some modern warfare situations.

 

[tootmaimington]

For me - ARMA has ruined my ability to judge distances in imperial in computer games.

In real life I can only use yards and miles for it to make sense in my mind.

 

For example - 

 

I know how fast 20 mph is but 20kmh - I can't get a feel for that.

I know how far 2 miles is but 2km? - I cant get a feel for that.

 

In computer games I can range things in Warthunder and ARMA in metres and kilometres but I have no chance in miles. (Even though in computer games the scale is completely different and arbitrary)

but M and KM are just easier to judge.

 

Thanks arma.

[ajappat]

Isn't it pretty obvious that ranges in game are not for navigation, but for gunnery. Thus it is in metric system.

[Kartoffelmos]

 

Because it's logical, goddammit!

(Yes, I know more countries use the imperial system, but I did not make the illustration)

[BlackSamBellamy]

 

No.

1 nautical mile = 1,852 km

 

?

read exactly, my version is more precise than yours............

[Nechrom]

 

?

read exactly, my version is more precise than yours............

 

No, 1 nautical mile is EXACTLY 1,852 km. There are no extra decimals.

[mmmbeer]

No doubt the metric system is superior.

 

And if it is EXACTLY something then you can add a billion more 0's behind the decimal and it would still be the same. But nothing is that exact. The amount of decimals indicate how fine or precise the measurement is. Saying that PI is 3,14 is correct but even more precise would be to say it is 3,141 and so on. You can continue this to a LOT of decimals.

[Leif_GG_Persson]

No, you can NOT continue with a lot of decimals. A nautical mile is exactly 1,852 km, not more and not less, and has been so since the First International Extraordinary Hydrographic Conference in 1929. Before that, there were many different nautical miles, of which the most known was defined as one minute of arc of a latitude, which means an endless strain of decimals. The fact that the earth isn't a perfect sphere, means that an arc minute is different at every point along the latitude. A very practical unit of measurement, as you can imagine....

 

Edit: Just to clarify, a nautical mile is a constructed (man made) unit of measurement and not based on nature, and as such, is, by definition, that exact.