WWI Naval

The computer program mentioned in some of the WWI and early 20th Century naval game blog posts is described herein. Page updated October 19, 2025.

Skagerrak is (or was) a computer simulation of WWI fleet actions in the North Sea. It was written for the TRS-80 and then for the Atari ST in the 1980s. The current code is primarily a miniature support program, although it can be used as a computer simulation without miniatures. It uses the macro language of LibreOffice, Version: 24.8.2.1.

Data is included for most British, German, US, French, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Japanese ships in the 1900-1920 period.

NOTE: URL links to the pdf files of these documents will change when the documents are updated. Links to previous versions will fail. To get the latest versions, save the links to the blog pages.

Code user guide (opens in new tab)

Player guide (opens in new tab)

Examples of the use of stations (opens in new tab)

A few notes on information used to develop code algorithms and scenarios are included here:

Notes on Naval Subjects (opens in new tab)

Code overview (opens in new tab)

Ground scale is adjustable, but in order to play on the available table space, 500 yards per inch is currently used (1:18000 scale). WWI capital ship spacing in column was about 500 yards stem to stem, so the ship miniatures should be less than an inch long, including bases. 1/6000 scale models are used with bases about 4 mm longer than the ships, so there is some distortion for the longer ships. The code keeps accurate positions, so the distortion is mainly an aesthetic issue. The time scale is 5 min/turn. The code updates weapon fire, damage and position each minute.

For each turn, course, speed, formation and targets may be selected. Ships in formation attempt to conform to the movements of the lead ship in each unit. Destroyer and torpedo boat units can be set to take station on other ships when not conducting torpedo attacks. Divisions can be ordered to take station in relation to other division lead ships. Torpedo doctrine can be selected, e.g., speed/range settings, numbers to launch. Funnel smoke, smoke pots and smoke screens can be generated. Primary and secondary gun targeting and torpedo targeting can be automated. Tertiary gun and destroyer/torpedo boat gun targeting is always automated. Printed order forms are provided for local players and/or Google Sheet order forms for remote players.

Various text files are generated each turn with detailed and simplified results and plotting data. Output files for each side with limited information on sightings, damage, primary and secondary targets, positions, courses and speeds can be sent to the players via connected devices, cloud drives or email.

Code Development: The code currently runs on a Linux Mint operating system with LibreOffice Version 24, and has been briefly tested on Windows 11 with LibreOffice Version 25.