In this photo of the sinking of the Bourrasque during the evacuation of Dunkirk there is a large clock face painted on the front of the bridge.
The same clock face can be seen on one of the Bourrasque's sister ships.
Does anyone know what function this clock performed?
These are range clocks, which were pretty common on ships before the advent of radios and radar. For example, one can be seen in this image on the American battleship Utah in 1919. The range to a target would be displayed on the range clock, so that ships operating with the ship with the clock could use it. This meant that, if one ship in the squadron had a better view of the target, the range it took could be used to accurately direct fire.
