open-ship

A naval simulation of the whole ship: her machinery, her compartments and every person aboard.

HMS Violet, a Flower-class corvette in disruptive camouflage, lying at a buoy — HMS Violet (K35), a Flower-class corvette, at a buoy. Photograph: Imperial War Museums (FL 24971).

open-ship models a warship from the inside. Every order passes through the people responsible for carrying it out, and every piece of information reaches the captain as a report, subject to delay, error and the limits of what the crew has seen. Fatigue, weather, skill and damage all bear on how well the ship is run. You command from the bridge, or take the place of anyone in the crew.

Six sailors in steel helmets loading a 4-inch gun on the forecastle of a corvette at sea — The gun's crew of HMS Vervain, a Flower-class corvette, loading her 4-inch gun on active service, July 1942. Photograph: Imperial War Museums (A 10666).

The work is grounded in primary sources: builders' plans, wartime instructions and the accounts of those who served.

Working now

Hull motion in wind and waves, calibrated against sea-trial data
Steam propulsion, from boiler to propeller
A full ship's company, with watches, sleep, fatigue, skills and stress
Orders by voice and engine-room telegraph, repeated back and acknowledged
Flooding, damage control and pumping
Injury, first aid and medical care
Weather that develops over hours

Not yet: a 3D view. The simulation currently runs with a text dashboard.

The open-ship text dashboard: machinery, engine-order telegraph, helm and weather, and a table of the ship's company — The dashboard today: machinery, the engine-order telegraph, helm and weather, and the ship's company, each man with his post, what he is doing, and how tired and skilled he is.

Support

open-ship is independent. Donations go directly into its development.

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