Maintaining depth in a submarine is a sophisticated task. The planesman was provided with a prominent depth gauge to monitor this, usually a circular Bourdon gauge. For precise maintenance at periscope depth an additional shallow-depth manometer, a transparent vertical pipe, would be provided too. With the development of active sonar, depth control became even more complex. Rather than maintaining a simple depth, the planesman must now keep the boat beneath a thermocline in order to hide from sonar. To this end, the helm position may also show external water thermometers and salinometers.