Boater wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
"Boater" wrote in message
...

So...only the superstructure will easily catch fire when hit by an
incendiary...well, that's a step up.


In the old days of lesser defensive technology, warships were built
with a "When in doubt, make it stout" philosophy.

Now-a-days the idea is not to get hit in the first place. We have a
very technology based (and reliant) military today from equipment for
ground troops to ships and airplanes. Critics aside, for the most
part it works, minimizes risks and saves lives when compared to the
old, brute force methodologies.

Eisboch



I appreciate the theory of not getting hit, and I am sure those who have
high-powered, supersonic, anti-ship missiles do, too. I think an
aluminum superstructure is a mistake on a capital warship.

Have you ever seen them cut the superstructure away, lift it off to get
to the engineering equipment below to replace the gas turbines? You cant
do it any other way.

Also, an all aluminum superstructure will allow an object to penetrate
one side and hopefully traverse the entire superstructure and exit the
other side. With steel the object may penetrate one side and bounce
around the interior and cause more damage.