Posted on 06/18/2005 5:32:42 AM PDT by SLB
The Navy wants to let go of its last two battleships. But a group called the United States Naval Fire Support Association is doing its best to torpedo that plan. Both sides are firing salvos across newspaper op-ed pages.
The issue: Does a weapon that was born in the 19th century and came to maturity in the 20th century still have a role in the 21st?
The answer could well decide whether the battleships Iowa and Wisconsin rejoin the fleet-in-being - or whether they'll join their sister ships Missouri and New Jersey as floating museums to an age gone by.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Tell me how it was over when the USS Missouri and Wisconsin were used with great effectivness during Desert Storm. Do you not think that those systems did not undergo some sort of tweeking and upgrade. They did.
This happens all the time in the military. Even our most modern systems we still have unintended collateral damage and fratricide incidents occur. It is all part of the process.
You should talk to some of my friends who were with the US Marines Expeditionary Force when they went up the coast during Desert Storm. They said the bombardments from the battlewagons severely degraded the enemy forces they were facing. A bunch of enemy soldiers surrendered to a Predator UAV which was being used to spot for the big guns. Those guys got smart because eveytime they saw the UAV they saw the resulting destruction and did not want to get it themselves. Heavy shell fire is a terrifying psychological weapon.
Nice gunsite on the foredeck..
This connotes a modicum of respect for those potential adversaries who might benefit most from the impressive 16" and up treatment from a BB. The phrase also has the benefit of including most, if not all the enemies we are apt to face. For some reason no matter whence we commence hostilities, our forces will head toward the "Orient."
Exactamundo.
The ballistics at 70mph are equally as impressive.......:o)
My goal is to get one of the 49 convertables like the one in the picture. I think they are great ......
How does panty waste Mark Kirk feel about it?
The Navy may need to find some older veterans to train sailors on operating the guns, just as they did during the Reagan administration. There is a difference.
Not necessarily. She might be regularly gang raped and the videos regularly distributed around the globe...
But have they done the most important thing: refit it for a coed crew.
They were entirely refitted during the Reagan Administration. It ain't that old.
When the Pentagon brass finds that a high profile project brought out with much fanfare has gone sour, they do not announce the failure of that project with equal fanfare. They allow the project to discreetly fade away.
The role of the BB's during the Gulf War was to be featured on the network nightly news making a hell of a lot of noise lobbing 16-inch shells at a few bunkers and artillery positions near the coast as a pyrotechnic display designed to convince the Iraqis that a seaborne invasion was going to come.
As a downside, during the show, a Silkworm missile headed straight for Missouri, but was intercepted by two Sea Dart missiles from the British warship HMS Gloucester.
In short, a very expensive asset was put at risk in order to be used as a tactical feint. Such a feint could have been accomplished by B-52 carpet bombing of the coast at very little risk.
In addition, the range of the BB is extremely limited. Once the action moves 20 miles inland, the big guns of the BB are as utterly useless in the war as the guns of a 1905 era coastal artillery fort. By contrast, air-power can deliver 2000 pond GBU-31 JDAM's with a 10 meter CEP (Circular Error Probable) anywhere on the battlefield.
As a result, in 1999, the Navy concluded:
No they cannot. That is just the point of maintaining them in mothballs instead of turning them into museums. Read James Webb.
Everything on those battleships was replaced during the Reagan Administration. As for subs being able to take their place, I wasn't aware subs could provide naval gunfire on station for weeks at a time.
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I believe I said "next generation" exocet.
Given everything from his half assed record ass a congressman, to his working against Governor Reagan in 1976 and 1980, through today with his enthusiasm for forcing down standards and putting gals into combat, I think most conservatives would think twice about accepting Don's judgement. Mark Kirk and Heather Wilson are happy with it though, I'm sure.
What submarines can do doesn't take weeks.
...sounds as though they need to remanufacture the powder.
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