richyoung
Member
Deck and belt armor may withstand 16" AP, but not the superstructure. The BB doesn't have to be sunk, just rendered ineffective, which "popgun" missiles can do.
Former Navy Secretary john Lehman disagrees. Parts of the superstructure ARE armored, if not to 16" AP levels, more than enough to defeat an Exocet.
Pop a couple holes in the funnels and they ain't doing 33 knots no more...knock out radar and electronic rangefinding, yes they have optical but it's no longer accurate over-the-horizon, is it?
No reason you can't spot fire from an RPV, A/C, or FO - as long as one commo channel is open...
The very high probability of mines and subs mean that you're not sailing at 33 knots either.
Agreed, but AMW/ASW is NOT her job - these considerations apply to the WHOLE amphibious task force, and obviously willhave to be dealt with in some manner.
Propeller shafts don't take kindly to explosions happening around them, even from near-misses...nor do steam and water pipes.
Iowas class powerplant is far better protected and features more redundancy that any proposed alternative.
Surviving a nuclear scenario is ludicrous - the ship may survive but it's not doing 33 knots or bombarding targets any more. The electronics are fried, a goodly portion of the crew is fried (thinking of 60-year-old ventilation system, a lot dead/dying slowly);
Again, the BBs are going to fare as well or better after refit than any proposed alternative...
the ship is out of the fight - probably forever. None of the ships that "survived" at Bikini were put back in service, were they?
None of the ships at Bikini had damage control crews on them, and they STILL survived - many of them indeed COULD have moved or fired if need be: the mainreason none of them were put back into service is the cost of decontaminating them turned out to be far in excess of their utility as fleet units - almost all of them having been captured enemy units, obsolette qarships, etc.