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  #1  
Old 05-13-2016, 10:48 PM
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Default Arleigh Burkes Class?

Anyone know what being subjected to the thermal blast of a 2MT airburst would do ships of this sort?

Obviously there is alot of crew injuries/deaths to the thermal...would EMP wreck these newer ships or would they be pretty solid through a blast 10KM away?

Radiation poisoning an issue if they aren't in the fallout path?
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Old 05-13-2016, 11:51 PM
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My (admittedly limited) knowledge is military ships are generally built to withstand a blast that far away. Provided the crew were expecting it, hatches and air vents closed, filtration systems working, etc, they should be ok at that range, even if they're in the fall out zone.

Once they're out of the area they'd have to do some serious decontamination and scrubbing though and there may still be some residual radiation after that. Anyone who stays inside should be safe enough.

Only those on deck, or not shielded by the superstructure would probably be injured (3rd degree burns, knocked off their feet if outside). Anyone on the bridge if shutters were not in place would likely be injured.
http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&...angle=99&zm=11

Sample point is 10.3 km from ground zero.
Overpressure: 4 psi
Maximum wind velocity: 62 mph
Initial radiation dose: 0 rem
Thermal radiation: 34.7 cal/cm²
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Old 05-14-2016, 12:01 AM
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The scenario we are playing out is, the ship and crew were not expecting it. Many of the crew were on the rails, watching America drift away as they were on the maiden voyage on a new ship on April 1 in Houston.

Sailing past one, then two blasts as they leave Houston.

And the debate is, could that ship still function. Both from a crew loss/injury perspective and ship damage.
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Old 05-14-2016, 01:06 AM
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The ship itself should be fine, although any papers, etc on the bridge would likely burst into flame and need to be extinguished. Anyone on the deck or bridge where they're not in shadow from the detonation would be severely burnt, but it's unlikely anyone would die.

The electronics are likely to suffer from the EMP, but again modern ships are built with that in mind so after switching out a few circuit breakers and the like should be back to near normal operation.

However with possibly critical crew injured and in the sick bay (which is sure to be overflowing with burn cases), it's unlikely the ship will be operating at anywhere near normal efficiency.

At least radiation at that distance doesn't appear to be a problem, unless they cop fallout...
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Old 05-14-2016, 04:58 AM
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And blindness, many of the crew would be temporarily or permanently blind, particularly if they were looking in the direction of the blast with LOS, or next to an exterior surface with a sufficiently high albedo.
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Old 05-14-2016, 11:45 AM
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Don't forget the "surge" from the airburst. It could easily be 50m high in the shallows depending on the depth of the water and the altitude of the airburst (if it was over water).

All US ships have been EMP shielded since the 80's and 10km is a bit of a reach for the incendiary blast from a 2KT airburst (which would extend about 3km). However, having the hatches open through the blast (which wouldn't directly reach the ship as a 2KT blast would generally only reach about 5km) could cause uncontrolled flooding. This in combination with a large surge (more common in shallow water rather than deep water) could swamp/capsize the ship.

The flash would extend to the horizon and could blind at 10km because it is an airburst (at probably 500 meters of altitude to maximize the blast).

Ok, I see you're talking about 2 MEGATONS (X2 the largest single warhead the Russians used)!

The Blast Effect would cause Minor structural damage to the ship (it will "toss" 150,000 lb railroad cars around at 5km).
The Incendiary Effect would possibly set fire to all flammable materials (including uniforms) and anodized aluminum would most likely lose its structural integrity (this can happen at just 250 degrees F).
The Radiation Effects would be fallout only.
The Surge could easily top 100 meters and would probably damage the ship (if the airburst was over water).

Also, keep in mind that if you're talking about multiple explosions which equal 2MT, things change. Wave Propagation occurs (and will be wider and taller) and Blast Range can be "amplified" by the intermingling blasts of multiple detonations. Incendiary Range would be reduced by the interaction of multiple blasts, though.

Last edited by swaghauler; 05-14-2016 at 12:16 PM.
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