USS Iowa vs. her weight in 1790s British frigates

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-12-01 06:56pm

CmdrWilkens wrote:Lets see, the USMC contingent (either with M1s, M14s, or M16s) can stop pretty much any boarding party. The ship can ram them until they give up and the Ma Deuces onabord have enough power to rip through anything onboard the Brit ships...I think its clearly a win for the British.

Then any survivors die of gangrene, right?

Post by **NecronLord** » 2003-12-01 06:58pm

Frank Hipper wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:This would be so hilarious to see.
The planet implodes due to the Royal Navy being slightly bigger than normal.
The RN of the time had hundreds of frigates, they could spare the 50+ this scenario calls for.

I believe he was reffering to the Mole of ships actually.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-12-01 07:17pm

The crew of the Iowa would take a few pictures and send it to the Weekly World news as proof of a pirate invasion.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-12-01 07:29pm

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:The crew of the Iowa would take a few pictures and send it to the Weekly World news as proof of a pirate invasion.

Crowe: "Let Fly!"

Deckcrew on Iowa: "You heard the man, tell the engine crew to bring 'er up to 30 knots!"

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-12-01 07:51pm

Give the RN The Black Pearl and we'll talk.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-12-01 08:05pm

More realistically, the British frigates capsize from the sudden weight shift which takes place when the entire crew simultaneously shits themselves.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-12-01 08:59pm

Darth Wong wrote:More realistically, the British frigates capsize from the sudden weight shift which takes place when the entire crew simultaneously shits themselves.

Pfft, they'd be too busy carrying out the valiant orders to RAM THEM UNTIL THEY GIVE UP!

Though flinging faeces could be a good tactic...

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-12-01 10:36pm

Darth Wong wrote:More realistically, the British frigates capsize from the sudden weight shift which takes place when the entire crew simultaneously shits themselves.

That would result in the ships center of gravity being lowered, which would make it less prone to capsizing, and you dare to speak of realism...

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-12-01 10:45pm

But the shit would have already been part of the total weight of the crew, and unless they had projectil shit which blasted out the seat of their pants, it wouldn't add any weight anywhere that wasn't already there, so no change in the likelihood of capsizing would occur, right?

(I'm reminded of the Mr. wizard episode where a glass full of ice and water was on a desk, and Mr. Wizard asked the kid if he thought the water level would rise, lower or stay the same when the ice melted..kid said it would rise, which was wrong, stayed the same due to ice is still water...or something like that...)

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-12-01 11:01pm

Actually it should of lowered because ice takes up more volume than water.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2003-12-02 12:06am

phongn wrote:
CmdrWilkens wrote:Lets see, the USMC contingent (either with M1s, M14s, or M16s) can stop pretty much any boarding party. The ship can ram them until they give up and the Ma Deuces onabord have enough power to rip through anything onboard the Brit ships...I think its clearly a win for the British.
Then any survivors die of gangrene, right?

Everyone dies of gangrene, we all know from GI Joe that bullets can't actually kill anyone so gangrene must be the deciding factor.

SWPIGWANG · Post by **SWPIGWANG** » 2003-12-02 12:22am

darthdavid wrote:Actually it should of lowered because ice takes up more volume than water.

Only if the ice is not floating but stuck there somehow....

displace is a bitch....

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-12-02 02:19am

To see there faces when they see the main guns go off and realise they can SEE the shells those 16 inchers just fired yep plenty O soiled underpants then and there

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-12-02 02:22am

One other thought did the Iowa have any flamethrowers on board

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-12-02 02:34am

Typhonis 1 wrote:One other thought did the Iowa have any flamethrowers on board

No and given the typical 15 yard range they wouldn't work very well, but explosions from the 5 inch and 40mm shells would easily start fires, plus the 20mm cannon's have incendiary ammo. Firing the 16 inch guns without shells would also be an evil move, as it would give an even bigger muzzle flash then normal.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2003-12-02 02:49am

*Chuckle.* As if the muzzle flash of a broadside isn't big enough as is.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-12-02 03:10am

Indeed.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2003-12-02 03:23am

Man, I love seeing that. Thanks, Mr. Wong!

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2003-12-02 07:30am

It's really great to see a full nine gun salvo. They don't do that often though. It actually breaks light bulbs and knocks things around all over the ship, not to mention pushing the ship several meters sideways in the water.

To give you an idea of just how much ordnance is coming out of those barrels, it takes a modern supercarrier flying airstrikes 12 hours to put the same weight of ordnance ashore that an Iowa class battleship can put ashore in 18 minutes!. This is why the battleships served so long after they were obsolete for ship to ship combat. They were absolutely devastating for shore bombardment. And with modern electronics and cruise missile launching capabilities, they remained competitive warships - especially with all that armor, which would make them largely immune to missiles like the exocets that sank the H.M.S. Sheffield during the Falklands war.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-12-02 07:47am

Perinquus wrote:It's really great to see a full nine gun salvo. They don't do that often though. It actually breaks light bulbs and knocks things around all over the ship, not to mention pushing the ship several meters sideways in the water.

To give you an idea of just how much ordnance is coming out of those barrels, it takes a modern supercarrier flying airstrikes 12 hours to put the same weight of ordnance ashore that an Iowa class battleship can put ashore in 18 minutes!. This is why the battleships served so long after they were obsolete for ship to ship combat. They were absolutely devastating for shore bombardment. And with modern electronics and cruise missile launching capabilities, they remained competitive warships - especially with all that armor, which would make them largely immune to missiles like the exocets that sank the H.M.S. Sheffield during the Falklands war.

They're also expensive and nobody seems to want them given their size and firepower. It's all missile this and ECM that and CIWS the other. Nobody appreciates the oomph factor a big fuck off sized cannon will give you.

Hopefully naval railguns will put such direct firepower back into the field.

Hethrir · Post by **Hethrir** » 2003-12-02 08:05am

Zoink wrote:The British get on board, neutralize the people on deck with a surprise musket attack, then neutralize the USMC counter attack by rolling large barrels of gunpowder down the hatches... they set fire to the ship and then its all 'have at ye!' with the cutlasses on the remaining crew.

Exactly. Who can beat a pirate?

Arrrr! I be takin' ya ship, ye scurvey sea dog!

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-12-02 09:55am

Perinquus wrote:It's really great to see a full nine gun salvo. They don't do that often though. It actually breaks light bulbs and knocks things around all over the ship, not to mention pushing the ship several meters sideways in the water.

The latter point is actually a myth, the ship doesn't get pushed sideways (it's an optical illusion). Though the shock indeed is quite strong and precluded the USN from putting NSSM launchers on it like they wanted to.

To give you an idea of just how much ordnance is coming out of those barrels, it takes a modern supercarrier flying airstrikes 12 hours to put the same weight of ordnance ashore that an Iowa class battleship can put ashore in 18 minutes!.

Wait, are you sure about that? There's not actually that much explosive even on the HC 16" shells, despite their enormous weight.

This is why the battleships served so long after they were obsolete for ship to ship combat. They were absolutely devastating for shore bombardment. And with modern electronics and cruise missile launching capabilities, they remained competitive warships - especially with all that armor, which would make them largely immune to missiles like the exocets that sank the H.M.S. Sheffield during the Falklands war.

IIRC, the USN estimated it'd only take six Exocets to take down a battleship. The armor is not particularly useful against modern ASMs.

FireNexus · Post by **FireNexus** » 2003-12-02 10:05am

Why does this thread remind me so much of a "10,000 Defiants vs. a Stardestroyer" thread?

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2003-12-02 11:03am

phongn wrote:RAM THEM UNTIL THEY GIVE UP!

Damn straight.

I should start charging royalties on that phrase.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-12-02 11:12am

Graeme Dice wrote:I should start charging royalties on that phrase.

You'd make a killing off of SB.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

USS Iowa vs. her weight in 1790s British frigates

Can they do it?