no visual tell tale wake on the way in either...
Posted on 07/25/2008 6:25:19 PM PDT by naturalman1975
For the ancient “ghost fleet” ships in the James River, the USN is finally getting paid by companies that want to scrap the ships, rather than having to pay companies to scrap them, because of the high metals prices; I think about a million or so a ship. Should finally get rid of all those ships in the next few years.
There is value in SINKEXes in validating weapons performance, and studying the effects on the ships themselves (I’d suspect the Fletcher had some instrumentation) of modern weapons.
Thanks, naturalman1975.
Here’s some info from the ship veterans website DD992.org:
SINKEX REPORT FOR EX-USS FLETCHER DD-992
* DD-992 WAS STRUCK BY A SINGLE MK-48-7 TORPEDO AND SANK IN DRAMATIC FASHION at 22:50:41Z 16JUL08.
* COORDINATES OF SUNKEN VESSEL: 23:01.2N 159:59.9W.
* WATER DEPTH: 2670 FATHOMS.
Pictures for ship at site also.
I have read accounts of ships sinking quickly but that was the first time I have ever seen it. If that ship had been struck during wartime few, if any, of the crew would have been able to survive.
I started out thinking it looked like a Brooke class frigate, but only because I made a model of one of them ~30 years ago, and it met a similar fate during a, um, training exercise.
Yeah, it does. Then again, one carrier taskforce can utterly dominate a huge chunk of any body of water it is in, sinking anything and everything within its area of control. So maybe it is enough. Maybe.
Yeah most of the Mk 48 video I’ve seen have been them hitting much smaller frigates; a Sprucan is pretty big, about 8,000 tons.
The hit clearly broke her back but she didn’t seem to instantly and completely split in two the way the frigates did.
Might want to substitute "well-trained and quiet submarine" for "carrrier taskforce" in the above. Perhaps.
It was very impressive and I’m glad the Aussies are on our side.
Man, what a headline!
Thought about it. Then again, attack subs are part of a carrier task force, aren’t they? I thought so, but not sure. If so, I’ll claim Prego - it’s in there!
They should call it the XXXL
Hugo Chavez, please take note:
This is what we intend to do to your second-hand thrift shop Navy.
(Extra prayers going up tonight for our brave submariners who go about the world strengthening our defenses. P.S. My grandson is one of them.)
I saw that. No matter how good the damage control crew is, that ship was doomed.
A little off the subject but fun to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeTHAHGgZzA&feature=related
Mk-48 ADCAP Plus?
Given that scrap iron is about $200/ton, wouldn’t it be economical to recycle a ship like that? Maybe not. It would be a bunch of work to cut it up.The scrap would just go to China so we could buy it back as sub-standard products...Or so they can make weapons for shooting it back to us.
Watertight hatches left unsecured and sea cocks opened?
So, how long before the 9/11 “troofers” claim that the torpedo was just for show but in ‘reality’ it was a controlled demolition that brought down the ship?
no visual tell tale wake on the way in either...
ex-USS Ray (DD 971)
http://steeljawscribe.com/2008/06/26/ex-uss-ray-dd-971-to-be-sunk-during-rimpac-08
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