'Masts on Horizon!' and Flat-Earth Beliefs

Sammy-rai · 03-06-22, 06:53 AM

Background: I have started playing SH3 and SH4 this year and am enjoying it a lot. At the same time, this has stirred up my appetite for WWII submarine literature, which has led me to read classic books such as Bucheim's 'U-Boat War' and 'Silent Running'.

A common occurrence in these submarine warfare accounts has been that of the lookout on the bridge crying out 'Masts on the horizon !' or something similar when a sighting of a distant vessel is made.

Being a land-lubber myself, this gave me pause for thought. And after some reflection and googling, I arrived at the explanation that at great distances, it is the tallest part of a ship which is first visible, due to the curvature of the earth blocking one's view of the lower parts of that ship. OK, sounds reasonable to me.

And it also seems to be the case that this phenomenom has been known for hundreds of years before people wrote about it in U-boat books.

At the same time it seems to me that this phenomenom seems to be a pretty cut-and-dried way of determining whether the earth is spherical or flat.

So it makes me scratch my head in confusion when I read about the growing number of people who believe the earth is flat (Flat-Earthers) and the elaborate experiments they perform to test whether the earth is round or not. Just google flat-earth or search for it on YouTube and you'll see what I mean.

What do you think ?

Is there more to the flat-earth situation than I think, or are flat-earthers suffering from a massive case of tunnel-vision ?

03-06-22, 06:53 AM	#1
Sammy-rai Seaman Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Norway Posts: 39 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 0	'Masts on Horizon!' and Flat-Earth Beliefs Background: I have started playing SH3 and SH4 this year and am enjoying it a lot. At the same time, this has stirred up my appetite for WWII submarine literature, which has led me to read classic books such as Bucheim's 'U-Boat War' and 'Silent Running'. A common occurrence in these submarine warfare accounts has been that of the lookout on the bridge crying out 'Masts on the horizon !' or something similar when a sighting of a distant vessel is made. Being a land-lubber myself, this gave me pause for thought. And after some reflection and googling, I arrived at the explanation that at great distances, it is the tallest part of a ship which is first visible, due to the curvature of the earth blocking one's view of the lower parts of that ship. OK, sounds reasonable to me. And it also seems to be the case that this phenomenom has been known for hundreds of years before people wrote about it in U-boat books. At the same time it seems to me that this phenomenom seems to be a pretty cut-and-dried way of determining whether the earth is spherical or flat. So it makes me scratch my head in confusion when I read about the growing number of people who believe the earth is flat (Flat-Earthers) and the elaborate experiments they perform to test whether the earth is round or not. Just google flat-earth or search for it on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. What do you think ? Is there more to the flat-earth situation than I think, or are flat-earthers suffering from a massive case of tunnel-vision ?