Quick ORB question

What sort of squadron was it: fighter, bomber, coastal?

Coastal. Mossie.

I did think this to myself but I’m not so sure; a lot would depend on distance, altitude and visibility.

Would a steam-powered ship actually give-off any steam; boiler water needs to be fresh water and ships use a lot so it is recycled via condensers. The diesels typically used by ships burn a very low quality fuel; this may produce as much smoke as the coal or fuel-oil burned in the boilers of a steam-powered ship (and during wartime ships would be trying to make as little smoke as possible so as not to give-away their position to U-boats).

Not sure about the design of the funnel / exhaust; how close would you need to be to tell?

While you are correct, I am not sure that in the context of an ORB it can be taken that the ship sighted was actually a Motor Vessel (MV) as opposed to a Steam Ship (SS); how would one tell from a distance and possibly at altitude?

Under normal circumstances – telling an M/V apart from an SS would be fairly simple !
Amount of steam/smoke, type of smokestack/exhaust…so given reasonable vis and a moving ship ; )

What sort of squadron was it: fighter, bomber, coastal?

M/V is a Merchant Vessel, surely?

They are referring to tons, so this could be more correct.

While you are correct, I am not sure that in the context of an ORB it can be taken that the ship sighted was actually a Motor Vessel (MV) as opposed to a Steam Ship (SS); how would one tell from a distance and possibly at altitude?

A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.

Wikipedia

M/V is a Merchant Vessel, surely?

I figured it was Motor Vessel, but thought it was so simple I was scared to throw it out there!

Collective name for Forms 540 and possibly 541 bound together as Operations Record Book

Ross

Motor Vessel ?

An M/V is a Motor Vessel. What the **** is an ORB ??