Posted on 04/15/2005 2:27:55 AM PDT by Zero Sum
The stand off capability of the carrier have been somewhat neutralized by the fast attack nuclear sub plus the capability of fleets to launch mass amounts of cruise missiles.
Those were supposed to be musical notes...
I wouldn't want to be in the path of one of them Russian Sunburns. The carrier might take a couple of those things and not sink, but it would be hell on earth for the crew.
I haven't written anything in assembler in so long, I sometimes forget it exists. Heck, I can't even read hex anymore. It's true: use it or lose it.
the long- lance torpedoes were very dangerous weapons.
But in that possible battle, big ship to big ship, We would have won big.
Great. No more sex for me, I guess.
They tell me that's "like riding a bicycle"...
Those French, even a sunken ship is able to attacke them :^)
Hmmm..let me check my dates...Ooops, Denmark Strait was May 24, 1941...
I'm glad to hear that The USS New Jersey and The USS Wisconsin are still commissioned!
The long lance torpedoes were good but by that time of the war the US torpedo was equally as lethal. Since the American destroyers outnumbered the Japs 2 to 1 I think they could have given the Nip destroyers hell. Also take in account that Kurita had lost several ships of his task force to submarine attack and air attacks. Many of his ships were also damaged by air attacks and were not 100%. Since the USA enjoyed air superiority, Halsey's ships had not endured that kind of attack. It would have been a turkey shoot because Halsey's ships were all nearly new and state of the art. He also would the benefit of his carriers raining death from above. It would be near impossible for the Japs to survive a combined surface air attack of that magnitude.
All i remember is the horror stories about bad gyros and bad warheads.
You are right the Sunburn is oh so fast but the carrier should hold its own if the warhead used is conventional. The nuke is where the problems begin. We are also fortunate that the Sunburn is only carried by the Sovremenny class destroyers. The weapon that has to really scare you is the SS-19 Shipwreck which is big and nasty. (Main armament of Kirov, Slava cruisers and Oscar-class submarines)
The worst part of a missile strike is not the warhead. Teh bulkheads and framing on a larger ship like a carrier will manage to survive those explosions relatively intact. The danger is the remainder of the rocket motor that passes through the hull. It'll keep burning until it runs out of fuel.
And since most solid rocket fuels are magnesium based, they burn at 2,400 F, enough to melt right through steel. Not to mention setting fire to paint, plastics, insulation, wood, paper, flesh and anything else it comes into contact with. Fire at sea is an even greater danger than the missle warhead itself.
Late in the war the problem was fixed. US surface torpedo attacks from 1943 onward bore horrific results for the IJN. Desron 51 attacks on Surigao Strait broke the Japanese battleship Fuso nearly in two and heavily damaged the Yamashiro. Then these two fell under the guns of Oldendorf's six battleships and they blasted the two of them to kingdom come. Yamashiro had no survivors.
They are not commisioned but are still US Navy/Government assets which can be taken from their museum status and then recommisioned into the Navy for service.
You know how the Navy brass finally confirmed they had bad torpedoes? They fired six of them against a cliff in Hawaii and five of them failed to explode.
You know how the Navy brass conformed they had bad torpedoes? They fired six against a cliff in Hawaii and five failed to explode.
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