That torpedo went off more or less under the missile magazine.
Stripped ship means no fire, no secondary explosions, etc.
And if the sea weren't so calm, no doubt the ends of the ship would work a little more and, well, detach.
RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby
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Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
- Cybrludite
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
And don't forget that the Exocet that burned the Sheffield during the Falklands War had a dud warhead. The fire that sank her was from the missile's fuel.Mike OTDP wrote:I'd bet good odds the missiles had dummy warheads. Targets are scarce, they try to keep them afloat as long as possible.
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"When liberal democracies collapse, someone comes along who promises to make the trains run on time if we load the right people into them." - Tam K.
- mekender
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
I would guess that the first hit, the one to the hull, would have penetrated most of the way through the compartments in the middle of the ship. With a full warhead, that would have knocked out the ship right there.Jericho941 wrote:Look at the way the flight deck and hangar were busted up, and check out this diagram. I'm guessing engine power is out of the question.Precision wrote:I have to say I was not impressed with the damage done by 2 anti ship missiles and a torpedo. I would have expected a sunk ship. That ship was still VERY usable assuming the engines (etc) would still run.
The torpedo also seems to have settled any notion of using the missile launcher (if it still had one).
The 2nd hit, would have taken out most of the CIC spaces.
The torpedo hit was probably on the bow on purpose, had it hit under the midships, it would have torn her in two. But with the bow being so narrow, much of its energy was dumped into the area of the sea that had nothing on top of it. Still the stress buckling was rather impressive.
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- Steamforger
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
We used to call them "Little Grey Missile Sponges."
- blackeagle603
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
yeah, I remember of an action involving a Rockeye and an Israeli boat. Still afloat but completely denuded of anything useful topside -- a thorough and complete mission kill courtesy of all those little bomblets. Scoured the topside.
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Re: RIMPAC 2016 SINKEX of Decommissioned USS Thach (FFG 43)
I remember a couple of decades ago the US Navy experimented with using the old unguided MLRS missiles on a target ship. It was nasty in that it pretty well stripped the antennas and stuff off the topside and would have probably killed a lot of crew. I think they gave up on it because of the high trajectory of the MLRS rockets and the guided low altitude missiles were in the pipe line.