Can anyone tell me how far you can see at sea? I was told in the Navy 13 miles. Help?

Answer 1

Although severe weather conditions could come into play by obstructing your view, they usually wouldn't. The main factor is just how high you are from the surface of the water; the distance you can see is equal to 1.17 times the square root of the height of your eye. In order to see 13 miles, your eyes would need to be about 123 feet above the surface, which might be the case if you actually were in the Navy on a large enough ship. Under most conditions, however, you will only see between three and four miles away.

Answer 2

If you play Basketball, you would see 5 km.
If you were in the Everest, 335 km
An ant will see 300 m far.
►► Try with Pythagoras:

D=sqrt ( ( R+E )^2 - R^2 )

E: Elevation (eyes 1.97 m )
R: Earth radius (6370000 m)
D: Distance you'd see =5000 m

Note: In the sea, the waves change the elevation of the ship and some waves limit you sight. The Everest is not a valid elevation. The ants don't like the sea.

Answer 3

If you are on the shore at the water side, the horizon is less than 3 miles away. In order to see the horizon 13 miles away, your eyes would have to be 125 feet above the water.

Of course, you can see ships beyond the horizon; if your eyes are 6 feet above the water and the top of the ship is 60 feet off the water, then you could see it 13 miles away, even though the horizon is only 2.9 miles away

Answer 4

It would depend entirely upon weather conditions such as storms and humidity.