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Save the battlewagons
townhall.com ^ | April 15,2005 | Oliver North

Posted on 04/15/2005 2:27:55 AM PDT by Zero Sum

"There is no weapon system in the world that comes even close to the visible symbol of enormous power represented by the battleship." -- Retired Gen. P.X. Kelly, USMC

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Those words of the former Marine commandant resonate with me. In 1969, gunfire from the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) saved my rifle platoon in Vietnam. During her six months in-theater, the USS New Jersey's 16-inch guns were credited with saving more than 1,000 Marines' lives. The North Vietnamese so feared the ship that they cited her as a roadblock to the Paris peace talks. Our leaders, as they did so often in that war, made the wrong choice and sent her home. Now, 36 years later, Washington is poised to make another battleship blunder.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: battleships; battlewagon; cnim; ergm; olivernorth; usn; ussiowa; usswisconsin
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To: Wombat101

Rue!


161 posted on 04/15/2005 8:13:25 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Wombat101

My autonomous robot will make you rue.


162 posted on 04/15/2005 8:15:55 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: carumba
"Argentina's General Belgarno was an example of large surface ships being large targets"

She was the old USS Phoenix a cruiser (Brooklyn Class?). She was armed with automatic six inch guns, and if she had gotten loose in the Falklands, the entire British invasion force would have been sunk. I don't know what the Argentinians did to her in terms of maintenance, but she was caught with no escort, loafing along at ten knots and not on a zigzag course when the Brits sank her. Battleships (16 inch guns) and the two cruisers left of the Demoines Class (automatic 8 inch guns) are superior gun platforms for shore bombardment and are capable of +-30 knots (34 land miles per hour). Unless we can replace them with better fire power, we should not throw them away.

Regards,

163 posted on 04/15/2005 8:16:51 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: Wombat101
Oh, you'll rue, Jerry.

You'll rue.

164 posted on 04/15/2005 8:17:14 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Lazamataz

Fascinating, but we're on the topic of the limits of man's inhumanity to man -- which is totally different.

Warfare is a permanent feature of the uman being,and it's only our ability to empathize which keeps us from totally destroying one another. A machine canot do that, nor will one ever be prgrammed that is capable of that. The echanics of the human brain cannot be completely transfereed to a hunk of machinery.

And you, my friend will rue, and I mean RUE, the day if your vision becomes reality and Commander Data decides you are a fitting target. Any robot/android/machine capable of being self-aware and completely automomous will go off the tracks.

Oh, and while we're at it:

"the day will come when the airplane will completely dominate the field of battle." -- Billy Mitchell.


165 posted on 04/15/2005 8:21:21 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection....)
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To: Wombat101
"the day will come when the airplane will completely dominate the field of battle." -- Billy Mitchell

That day is nearly at hand.

166 posted on 04/15/2005 8:22:10 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Wombat101
"the day will come when the airplane will completely dominate the field of battle." -- Billy Mitchell

But they'll be little autonomous robotic planes. Swarms of 'em.

167 posted on 04/15/2005 8:22:40 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Junior
hay day

Not trying to be picky but the correct term is heyday!

168 posted on 04/15/2005 8:23:10 AM PDT by CharacterCounts
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To: Wombat101

Rue.

169 posted on 04/15/2005 8:23:48 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Lazamataz

I that were the case then there would be 140,000 airplanes in Iraq and not people holding rifles.


170 posted on 04/15/2005 8:24:15 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection....)
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To: Junior
"(that's why the Iowa was using old powder at the time of her turret explosion)."

The Iowa's turret explosion was caused by a poorly trained turret crew over ramming the powder load.

Regards,

171 posted on 04/15/2005 8:25:22 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: Wombat101

Roo.

172 posted on 04/15/2005 8:26:11 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: Jimmy Valentine

Well, one of those guys was ramming something, I just don't think it was powder.

(gratuitous homosexual joke, my apologies)


173 posted on 04/15/2005 8:26:49 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection....)
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To: Wombat101

ALl i'm saying is that he capability should continue to exist. Whether that means battleships or not is not my decision to make. However, this is what we have, at hand, and quite frankly, it would be much cheaper to refurbish them to the tune of $2B apiece if the only alternative is to wait for the Navy to design and fund something that will require 20 years and 10 times as much.

I don't think it is an either/or proposition. The point is that the Navy leadership does have the decision to make and based on their collective wisdom, they want to permanently decommission the battleships. I agree with them despite, as an old Navy vet, loving battleships and the image they project.

174 posted on 04/15/2005 8:27:48 AM PDT by kabar
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To: Wombat101
If that were the case then there would be 140,000 airplanes in Iraq and not people holding rifles.

NEARLY at hand.

Why can't you just admit that you are wrong? Youa re as wrong as wrong can be, so just get it our of your system and then agree with me.

175 posted on 04/15/2005 8:27:52 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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To: SampleMan; Doohickey
Gas turbines aren't big enough for that size ship, so you would have to clutch more than one per shaft.

Actually 2 turbine/shaft is fairly normal. The only reason to have 1/shaft is to allow twin prop redundency in smaller ships.

As for power the LM2500 can now put out 30,000 HP, with growth potential to 40K. Two of them coupled would supply as much power as you can put down a single shaft. An Iowa is going to need 4 shafts whatever the power source.

176 posted on 04/15/2005 8:32:36 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Laws are for the guidence of wise men and the blind obedience of fools - Solon, Lawmaker of Athens)
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To: Lazamataz

if only it were that easy. However, I try to avoid agreeing with people who obviously spend too much time playing video games. The generation raised on video games is one of the reason why we can't easily pacify Iraq.

There's no more fighting spirit, except for when you're blowing up animated pixels in the sterile enviornment of your den.

So, you see, I am philosophically and logically opposed to you and wouldn't agree with you if you offered your virgin sister to me, complete with a c-note taped to her head. Even if you threw in a six pack for sh*ts and giggles.


177 posted on 04/15/2005 8:33:28 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection....)
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To: Wombat101
"At the close of WWII, the Navy had built the Alaska class battleship, which was faster, better armored and more stable than the Iowas"

Nope. They were battlecruisers. The Navy put 16 inch guns on them but they weren't much faster than the Iowas and much less well armored.

They were out of service and scrapped very quickly during the 1950's.

Regards,

178 posted on 04/15/2005 8:33:48 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: Jimmy Valentine

Thank you,....for the third time...I mixed up the Alaskas and the Montanas...


179 posted on 04/15/2005 8:35:47 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection....)
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To: Wombat101
So, you see, I am philosophically and logically opposed to you and wouldn't agree with you if you offered your virgin sister to me, complete with a c-note taped to her head. Even if you threw in a six pack for sh*ts and giggles.

That's it.

We're at war.


180 posted on 04/15/2005 8:36:06 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Time Ebbs No Rankle)
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