What can sink a warship? (2024)

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What can sink a warship?

By far the most effective way to sink ships is using a torpedo. A hit from just a single torpedo such as the Spearfish will almost certainly be fatal for all but the strongest and largest ships. The first generation of torpedoes just exploded on impact with the ship's side, punching a hole that would flood the vessel.

(Video) How do you Sink a Battleship?
(Battleship New Jersey)
Can a warship be sunk?

Battleships also proved to be very vulnerable to mines, as was evidenced in the Russo-Japanese War and both World Wars. After the Battle of Port Arthur, a number of Russian and Japanese vessels were struck by mines and either sank or were scuttled to prevent their capture.

(Video) What Does It Cost to Sink a Battleship?
(Battleship New Jersey)
What could sink an aircraft carrier?

The aircraft carrier is vulnerable to gunfire, submarine attack, and air attack, and aircraft carriers have been sunk in this war by all three of these means. There is no excuse for an aircraft carrier being sunk by either gunfire or submarine attack and any carrier so sunk was being very poorly operated at the time.

(Video) Why Aircraft Carriers Are Hard To Sink?
(NAVY Productions)
What does it take to sink a destroyer?

Using this metric to sink a 2000 ton WWII destroyer took about 36 hits from a destroyer's 5″ guns, about 18 hits from a light cruiser's 6″ guns, 8 hits from a heavy cruisers 8″ guns, or only one hit from a battle ship's 16″.

(Video) What Would It Take To Sink USS Gerald R Ford Aircraft Carrier?
(The Infographics Show)
How do you sink a warship?

A very generalized answer is that sinking a ship is the fastest way to render it harmless, and you sink a ship in one of two ways - either break its keel, which essentially opens the bottom to the sea, or vent enough of it to the sea that water comes in fast enough that it can't be pumped out, and fills a large enough ...

(Video) 5 Reasons US Aircraft Carriers are Nearly Impossible to Sink
(US Military News)
Can an A 10 sink a warship?

How much damage could an A-10's gun have inflicted on a WW2 battleship? The other posts have focused on the “could you sink it” question and rightly say no. But the A10's gun can do severe damage that would cripple the effectiveness of say an Iowa class battleship.

(Video) Why MONSTER WAVES Can't Sink US Navy's LARGEST Aircraft Carriers During Rough Seas
(NAVY Productions)
Can a storm sink a warship?

Ships are built of heavy steel and designed to be capable of riding out most storms. ” says Konrad. “ Even the largest ships however, like the 1,302 foot long, 170,974 ton container ship, Emma Maersk, can sink if she is beaten by massive waves for too long a period of time.

(Video) Why Cruise Ships Don't Sink
(The Infographics Show)
Can water sink a ship?

A ship which has a large weight displace a large volume (thus large weight) of water. Hence the buoyancy force acting on the ship is much greater than the weight of the ship itself, making it to float on water. Thus ship do not sink in water.

(Video) Why MONSTER WAVES Can’t Sink Large Ships During Storms
(Nauctis)
Can a destroyer sink a battleship?

The only battleship sunk in a fleet action by either torpedo boats or destroyers was the obsolescent German pre-dreadnought SMS Pommern. She was sunk by destroyers during the night phase of the Battle of Jutland.

(Video) Incredible Reasons Why US Navy Aircraft Carriers are Almost Impossible to Sink
(The Infographics Show)
What is the hardest ship to sink?

It took four and a half days to sink the U.S.S. Nevada. The 575-foot-long battleship, painted bright orange from its earlier role as a nuclear test target, was towed out of Pearl Harbor to sea, where a classified explosive was detonated in its hull.

(Video) Why large ships don’t sink in bad weather
(Interesting Engineering)

What happens if China sinks US aircraft carrier?

Even if China managed to successfully attack and sink an American aircraft carrier, past military action suggests much of the stricken carrier's crew and air wing would likely survive. In World War II, America lost four big fleet carriers to military action. In each case, none lost more than 10% of their crews.

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How hard is it to sink a Navy ship?

With all the watertight door closed, a carrier is very difficult to sink. You must blow holes in most of the compartments to let enough water in so that it is no longer buoyant. This takes dozens of hits by missiles or torpedoes. The US Navy did a test on the USS America CV66 in 2005.

What can sink a warship? (2024)
Can a torpedo sink a ship?

The introduction of the torpedo provided a weapon that could cripple, or sink, any battleship. The first boat designed to fire the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo was HMS Lightning, completed in 1877.

Can a bullet sink a ship?

However, Battleships have limited displacement, like any ship, so if you added enough bullets/rounds to the ship, it would be possible, at least theoretically, to cause the ship to sink. It would take a lot of them… but it would be possible, at least in theory.

What happens if you sink the battleship?

When all of the squares of a ship have been hit, the ship's owner announces the sinking of the Carrier, Submarine, Cruiser/Destroyer/Patrol Boat, or the titular Battleship. If all of a player's ships have been sunk, the game is over and their opponent wins.

Can a tank sink a warship?

Yes, 320 M1A2 tanks (80 platoons) can sink an Iowa-class battleship. Although, only about 300 tanks (75 platoons) would probably be required. The 120mm gun on an M1A2 tank can do damage to an Iowa-class battleship provided that there are enough of them and plenty of ammo.

Can artillery sink a ship?

Properly used, naval artillery could easily devastate a target. Solid iron cannonballs were useful against a wooden ship: Blasting holes in the wooden hull could sink it, smash its masts to disable propulsion, and send giant splinters flying about the decks.

Can a missile sink a battleship?

1943 saw the first ships to be sunk by guided weapons, launched from aircraft, although it was not until 1967 that a ship was sunk by a missile launched from a ship outside a test environment. Both of these were warships, but missiles have also attacked merchant ships.

Can weight sink a ship?

If too much weight is added, the ship's density becomes greater than that of the water, and it sinks. Excess cargo would need to be thrown overboard in a hurry or it's time to abandon ship!

Can a wave sink a battleship?

Rogue waves can disable and sink even the largest ships and oil rigs.

Can rain sink a ship?

Heavy rain can cause serious damage to boats in a number of ways. The most obvious way is by sinking the boat. The weight of the water can overwhelm the boat, causing it to take on water and eventually sink.

Can lightning destroy a ship?

The lightning current simply flows into the ship's metal superstructure and is harmlessly dissipated into the sea through the hull. However, there may be some local damage at the point where the lightning actually attaches to the ship.

Can ships avoid hurricanes?

Even Cruise Ships Outrunning a Storm Can Encounter Rough Waters. While increasingly sophisticated technology and mechanics can help ships evade storms, they can't avoid them entirely; rougher-than-usual waters are often found far from a hurricane itself.

Which ship Cannot sink?

There is no such thing as an unsinkable ship. Ships are divided into watertight compartments so that flooding due to any damage to the hull is restricted to only the damaged compartments.

Do ships rust under water?

One of the oddest forms of ship deterioration happens when metal, especially iron, is submerged for long periods of time in sea water. Salt water creates a highly corrosive setting and the metal oxidizes or rusts, just as it does on dry ground.

Do we sink old ships?

Today, ships (and other objects of similar size) are sometimes sunk to help form artificial reefs, as was done with the former USS Oriskany in 2006. It is also common for military organizations to use old ships as targets, in war games, or for various other experiments.

Can a battleship survive a nuclear bomb?

According to an assessment by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “A large ship, about a mile away from the explosion, would escape sinking, but the crew would be killed by the deadly burst of radiations from the bomb, and only a ghost ship would remain, floating unattended in the vast waters of the ocean.”

Can a battleship float in a bathtub?

Yes it floats. And it has displaced its "own weight of water" in the sense that if you had filled the container with water and only then lowered the ship into the container, nearly all that water would have been dispaced and is now sloshing around on the floor.

Can submarines sink battleships?

With the sinking of Kongō, Sealion became the only allied submarine to sink an enemy battleship during World War II. By the end of its third war patrol, Sealion had sunk at least 13 ships: six tankers, five freighters, one destroyer, and one battleship.

Which ships were most feared?

The Bismarck was the most feared battleship in the German Kriegsmarine (War Navy) and, at over 250 metres in length, the biggest. Yet, despite its presence, it would sink only one ship in its only battle. So what exactly made the Bismarck so famous?

What tall ship sank?

On October 29, 2012, the tall ship Bounty sank off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, while attempting to transit through the forecasted path of Hurricane Sandy.

What ship sank the fastest in history?

Lusitania sank in only 18 minutes, at a distance of 11.5 nautical miles (21 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale. Despite being relatively close to shore, it took several hours for help to arrive from the Irish coast. By the time help arrived, however, many in the 52 °F (11 °C) water had succumbed to the cold.

What happens when a person falls off a US Navy aircraft carrier?

If someone sees the person fall overboard, they report "man overboard starboard/port side" to the navigation bridge. It is important to provide the side of the ship, as the ship will be turned in that direction. A life ring is immediately thrown over the same side, even if the person in the water is not visible.

Can a US aircraft carrier sail into the Black Sea?

This, too, is impossible because of the Montreux Convention of 1936. Under that treaty, countries along the Black Sea get special naval privileges, and other countries are strictly limited in what ships may enter the sea (for example, no aircraft carriers or submarines), how many at a time, and for how long.

Can China catch up to USA?

Desmond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute recently told Reuters that China's economy is unlikely to eclipse the United States anytime within the next 20 years. Economist Paul Krugman, also a New York Times columnist, likens China to Japan in the early 1990s.

Why don't aircraft carriers tip?

The curved hull of an aircraft carrier is one of the most important features that contributes to its stability. The curve of the hull creates a “center of buoyancy” that is located below the center of gravity of the ship.

Where do Navy ships dump their waste?

Answer: It dumps it into the ocean

Trash from a ship's mess decks can amount to 150 bags per day, creating a sizeable challenge for those charged with keeping the ship clean and safe. While throwing trash in the ocean is generally considered a bad thing to do, some ocean trash can result in favorable consequences.

Do you lose a captained ship if it sinks?

Attributes of a Captained Ship

Sinking is not The End: Just because you've purchased and named your ship, doesn't mean it's one of a kind and can be lost. Just as it always has been, if your ship sinks it will respawn fresh and you can continue as normal!

Can a submarine outrun a torpedo?

The Soviet speed advantage can allow submarines literally to outrun U. S. torpedoes in certain scenarios. cantly deeper than current U. S. submarines can operate. This speed-depth combination provides Soviet submarines with the ability to make evasive maneuvers.

Can a ship outrun a torpedo?

Torpedoes are faster than naval vessels. If a torpedo is launched close to a naval vessel, it will quickly catch up to a the naval vessel. However, if a torpedo is launched at a long distance from a naval vessel and detected early, a fast naval vessel may keep ahead of the torpedo until the torpedo runs out of fuel.

Could a submarine sink a cruise ship?

On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans.

Can a 50 cal penetrate a battleship?

50 caliber rounds are fairly accurate and fairly destructive on their own and repeated rounds into a small area at or near the waterline might eventually chew a large hole in the side of the ship.

Can a tank shell penetrate a warship?

A tank round can easily penetrate a ship in certain areas but the chances of it sinking the entire ship are null. Think of a warship like a honeycomb system, they can take a massive amount of punishment and still operate.

Can a railgun sink a ship?

How effective could a railgun be at sinking something like a U.S. carrier? Not very. Basically, a railgun just fires a slug of inert metal. All it does is transfer enough energy into the target to make a hole, then fly through said hole until it hits the next thing.

Did any US battleships sink?

USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma

Arizona exploded and sank after a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, killing 1,177 officers and crewmen, and the Oklahoma was sunk by several torpedoes during the attack and 429 crew died when she capsized on Battleship Row.

Can one torpedo sink a battleship?

In order to do this, we will dive deep into naval history. The answer is of course, that one torpedo can sink a ship regardless of her size.

Did the US ever lose a battleship?

No American battleship has ever been lost at sea, though four were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

What would cause a ship to sink?

There are three main reasons why ships sink; human error, collisions or harsh sea environments. Clearly human error can be prevented with training and due diligence.

What destroys a battleship?

The battleship's predominant weakness comes in the form of submarines, which can easily decimate any battleship fleet, making it necessary to maintain an active layer of protection with destroyer and submarine escorts.

Are Navy ships easy to sink?

In subsequent decades, American flattops suffered serious accidents including collisions and fires, but none sank. It's very difficult to sink a buoyant, thousand-feet-long ship that's mostly made of steel.

What makes a ship not to sink?

A ship which has a large weight displace a large volume (thus large weight) of water. Hence the buoyancy force acting on the ship is much greater than the weight of the ship itself, making it to float on water. Thus ship do not sink in water.

Do ships sink often?

According to John Thorogood, a senior analyst at IHS Maritime, 85 of those were sinkings, “in that the vessel actually went at least partially below the sea in a fairly traumatic manner”. On average, two ships a week are lost, one way or another.

Does a sinking ship pull you down?

Can a sinking ship actually drag you down with it? While the ship is still filling up with water, if you're in the path of that water, yes, you could easily get dragged along with it, like an undertow or rip current at the beach. This very thing happened as the Titanic was going down for the final plunge.

What battleship sunk itself?

USS Texas (BB-35)
History
United States
Stricken30 April 1948
FateMuseum ship
General characteristics
40 more rows

How do Navy ships not rust?

NAVSEA worked with domestic and foreign commercial coating manufacturers to develop ultrahigh solids epoxy tank coatings that do not contain any paint solvent. Since these coatings were first applied in the early 2000s, many coated tanks have remained corrosion-free for 15 to 20 years.

Can you sink a US carrier?

Carriers are nearly impossible to sink.

So that one weapon that might penetrate a layered defense isn't likely to do great damage to the carrier. The vessel won't sink, and the crew will probably be able to work around whatever damage is incurred to continue performing their mission.

Can gas bubbles sink ships?

Whether or not the ship will sink depends on its position relative to the bubble. If it is far enough from the bubble, it is safe, they say. If it is exactly above the bubble, it also is safe - the danger position is between the bubble's middle point and the edge of the mound where the trough formed.

Do Navy ships ever capsize?

Large vessels

A ship that sustains a hole or crack ('is holed') may capsize. This is the working of torpedo and naval mine warfare.

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