At 4:14 AM +0000 1/8/04, olympus-digest wrote:
>Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 19:17:05 +0000
>From: Chris Barker <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: [OM] OT: Naval museums now (UK SSNs)
>
>Good point: The Trafalgar class subs seem to have been launched and
>commissioned after the Falklands War (e.g. Dec 82), but HMS Sceptre was
>launched in 1978, the tenth nuclear-powered sub according to the RN
>website:
I think that the Falklands War showed the value of submarimes to the RN Brass.
Basically, a single SSN was able to completely neutralize the entire Argentine
Navy. After the General Belgrano was sunk, the Argentine Navy stayed in port
-- they had no antisubmarine capability, so coming out of port would be
suicide.
In World War II, the US Navy spent ~2% of its resources on submarines (all
diesel), and the submarines were responsible for 50% of tonnage sunk. This was
in spite of the somewhat ramshackle nature of the then US submarine fleet and
especially their torpedeos. (For instance, Japanese torpedeos had about four
times the range.) The fact that the US could read the German and Japanese
codes helped a great deal, but still submarines are very cost effective. And
modern space surveillance systems replace the broken codes of yore.
>http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/2307.html
>
>I must admit that we have more SSNs than I originally thought, but only
>2 or 3... well!
>
>;-)
>
>Chris (who would not fancy a job in the deep, and rather admires the
>skippers who manage these machines... )
Claustrophobes need not apply.
Joe Gwinn
>On 7 Jan 2004 , at 13:53, Joe Gwinn wrote:
>
> > At 12:44 PM +0000 1/7/04, olympus-digest wrote:
> >> Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 06:27:15 +0000
> >> From: Chris Barker <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Subject: Re: [OM] OT: Naval museums now
> >>
> >> I think it was HMS Conqueror. And the RN site lists 12 SSNs (Ship
> >> Submersible Nuclear) - 2 or 3 indeed! ;-)
> >
> > I recall the 2 or 3 numbers from news reports during the Falklands
> > War, and those reports were quite definite. When were those 12 ships
> > launched?
> >
> > Piers later commented that there were (are?) three Churchill-class
> > subs in the UK fleet.
> >
> > Joe Gwinn
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