Killing Carriers

[General Pain]

[General Pain]

[Cdnwolf]

Originally Posted by General Pain

You have to stay away from the Home Baked Beans, General!!

[Legbreaker]

Yep, a nuclear torpedo or sea mine would certainly do the trick....

[kato13]

So then it comes down to the question: were nuclear weapons used at sea before the hard date presented in canon?

If they were that brings up other issues like potentially greater civilian EMP/evacuation preparedness and longer time for continuance of government plans to implemented. I think as soon as any nuke is used anywhere those wheels would go in motion.

[stilleto69]

Originally Posted by kato13

So then it comes down to the question: were nuclear weapons used at sea before the hard date presented in canon?

If they were that brings up other issues like potentially greater civilian EMP/evacuation preparedness and longer time for continuance of government plans to implemented. I think as soon as any nuke is used anywhere those wheels would go in motion.

Kato -
You bring up a good point. If we try to use nuclear weapons before the hard date given in cannon, that raises all sorts of questions not to mention opening a whole new can of "cannon/non-cannon" worms.

[Webstral]

Perhaps before we try mental gymnastics to try to explain how a use of nuclear weapons in June, 1997 does not violate the stated first use in the v1 chronology, we should address whether or not nuclear weapons were actually necessary in the Barents Sea. While I think the use of nukes at sea would have been very helpful for the Soviets, and while I believe they might have believed the threat to the Kola Peninsula facilities warranted upping the ante, we may not have to go there. I remain firmly committed to the power of human factors and luck. Surely the Soviets will get a few lucky breaks. If Strike Fleet Atlantic goes into action with too little of some critical asset, and if the operability of the asset becomes markedly lesser by some happenstance, the whole house of cards may come tumbling down. Perhaps the Soviets were even prepped to use nukes, but they didn't end up hhaving to. Anyway, we should condier whether it's easier to maneuver our way around the given first use of nuclear weapons or figure out how Strike Fleet Atlantic could be defeated without nuclear weapons.

Webstral

[Legbreaker]

Personally I see nukes being used at sea from around the same time they began to see use in Europe - roughly July - August 1997.

As with Web, I see no need for the Soviets to resort to nukes at sea prior to the second half of 1997. Human error, bad tactics, bad weather, overconfidence and a number of other factors are all more than enough to explain how the Nato fleet in the Atlantic found itself on the bottom.

It only takes one or two well placed torpedos to sink even the largest of ships. The trick is in getting your sub into position without being detected.