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Lu,

> It is my understanding that the periscope on many WW II subs
> had a "sextant" mode where a navigator could shoot sites while 
> submerged.

Yes. I also read about this.
 
> Pretty useful for getting daytime (moon, sun) shots.

Perhaps it could also be equipped with an art horizon.

C. Plath was famous for "aircraft-type" sextant for the use on
submarines. After the war, the Russians copied it almost exactly.
It is rare on e-bay, but can be seen in Russian shops.
This is a hudge bulky device which weights several kilo.

> As to 0.1' accuracy -- with nuclear weapons, as with hand-grenades,
> "close" is usually effective.  
> In fact, the problem with much of the cold war may have
> been accurately knowing the lat/long of the target rather
> than of the missile launch site!

The accuracy was a very important point, and influenced strategy.
If you want to hit at a large city, 1/2 mile error is not very
important. But if you want to hit a missile silo, you have to shoot
very accurately, even with a powerful warhead.
As all early missiles apparently had inertial guidance system,
if any, their 
accuracy could
not be better than the accuracy in the position of the launch site.

I conclude that high precision Cel Nav (better than 1 mile) was realy 
important, perhaps
for a short period. I still cannot tink of another accurate method
which could be available before 1960.

Alex.

   

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