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To: GonzoGOP

1. Generally, the holds that ammunition are stored in are in the center of the ship either at, or below the waterline. Penetrating all the ballast tanks and voids from the ship’s skin would be difficult.

2. Modern ships learned from disasters. Holds where ammunition is stored have vents that allow the pressure concussion to escape, saving the integrity of the ship’s hull.

3. Comparing the explosive power of an RPG to a torpedo or bomb is kind of silly. I don’t think an RPG would have done the same damage to the Arizona as the torpedos did.


73 posted on 05/07/2009 7:47:35 AM PDT by Francis McClobber
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To: Francis McClobber
First two points completely valid. It would be a long shot for the RPG to hit the mag. My point was on a ship with no armor, nothing bigger than a ma deuce, a relatively small crew to fight fires, and holds full of ammo and fuel you don't go charging into battle. That's why the supply ship is supposed to be escorted.

As to the third point, no the amount of explosive in the warhead isn't important. It just has to be enough to set off something in the mag. Up until WWII several warships had been lost due to electrical sparks in the magazines. Have you seen those pictures of an RPG hitting a loaded tank. At first there is just a little puff of smoke, that's the RPG. Then the ammo in the tank cooks off and the turret goes flying. Now the M-1 has the ammo stored away from the crew, so just the back of the turret blows off, but still the explosion isn't from the RPG, it just sets off the ammo that is already there.

One minor point, the Arizona was a bomb hit, she isn't believed to have taken any torpedoes due to Vestal being moored outside her. Oklahoma, California and West Virginia went down to torpedoes
88 posted on 05/07/2009 8:17:42 AM PDT by GonzoGOP (There are millions of paranoid people in the world and they are all out to get me.)
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