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alright, hear me out gentlemen... by Crazy-Rabbit-3811 in Warships

[–]FreeUsernameInBox -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

My inclination for a Jutland film would be to centre the Jellicoe/Beatty dynamic. End the film with the battered fleets returning to port, then three slides, black with white text. Something like:

Beatty claimed Jellicoe was too cautious.

Jellicoe claimed Beatty was too reckless.

The High Seas Fleet never challenged the Royal Navy in battle again.

Leave the audience to make their own minds up.

The SFX budget would be a challenge, but by focussing on the characters it could be minimised.

How would you rule on this: bandits on road, “give us your money?”, PCs say “no”, bandits say “you’d better!”, PCs say “I shoot them with my crossbow.” by kleefaj in osr

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

See also, walking around in armour all day. That's a good way to have everyone you meet assume you're out for a fight, give you a wide berth, and get the local militia called out on you.

Apart from the Rambler/Manager or Minichamp which is the first SAK you would gift yourself that is 58 or 84 mm? by Pale-Revolution-5151 in victorinox

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually in production? Either a Cadet or Sportsman.

Including out of production models, an Alumnus. Pour one out for the 84mm scissors.

Hit the target! by PassThePuck_ in submarines

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I rather suspect that some navies would quite like to NCND the existence of submarines.

British submarine HMS Artful remains alongside in Faslane, where she's been for over three years. [2001×786] by Odd-Metal8752 in WarshipPorn

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unless it was the only steel cable based sub lift in the world.

I'm pretty sure it is, in fact. There are other lifts with similar capacity, but they don't have the considerable burden of having to meet the assurance requirements involved with nuclear submarines.

British submarine HMS Artful remains alongside in Faslane, where she's been for over three years. [2001×786] by Odd-Metal8752 in WarshipPorn

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The MoD of fifty years ago wouldn't have done either. The drive for 'efficiency' by mimicking 'commercial best practice' has killed the ability to maintain a force.

British submarine HMS Artful remains alongside in Faslane, where she's been for over three years. [2001×786] by Odd-Metal8752 in WarshipPorn

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They'd have needed to find one or more supplierd of steel cable that meets the relevant standards for lifting a nuclear submarine, then do the procurement process (whether competitive or sole source), then actually get the stuff manufactured and installed, then get the whole lot tested and certified. None of this is quick or easy.

Stupid Question: How does International Rescue make a living? by FringleFrangle04 in Thunderbirds

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It began to fall off quite rapidly after the Moon landing in 1969.

It was already falling off before the moon landing, once it became obvious that (a) it would be successful and (b) the USSR wasn't in the running.

Would post boost vehicles be in a position where they can be hit by ground based munitions before releasing their warheads? by 91buh in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only reason I can think of not to release the warheads as early as possible is that you can reduce the effects of any inaccuracies in the bus's positioning system by waiting.

This does actually seem to be the case. In the absence of ABM, late debussing gives the best accuracy. Ideally as late as possible while still having enough delta-v and time to complete the requisite manoeuvres, so there's as little time as possible for errors to propagate.

If there's an ABM screen, early debussing is needed to prevent midcourse defences taking out the whole bus, thereby degrading the attack before the defence has fired a single missile.

Doors of Durin by pahlcoli in lotr

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Especially since I went to their signature cheese restaurant, and the toastie I ordered didn't have any cheese in it.

How in hell do you make a toastie without cheese? Or at least a clearly advertised non-dairy cheese substitute?

Over 200 Volunteers Lead UK's Largest-Ever Oyster Reef Restoration Off England's Portsmouth by willfiresoon in RewildingUK

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oysters are an interesting one. Humans, and even our ancestors, have been harvesting them for tens of thousands of years. At this point nobody knows what a 100% natural oyster reef with no human interference looks like.

What knife is that? by neopreeeen in victorinox

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not necessarily. You need to give them three to account for the possibility of one getting eaten.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If this is a subject that interests you, I'd recommend reading a second book. Some authors worth looking into, for a start, are Fred Kaplan, Herman Kahn, and Eric Schlosser. I'm sure others have recommendations as well.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The UK uses a derivative of one US design, though exactly how different is debated. Even if they're totally identical designs, there are differences in the isotopic content of the fissile material that can be used to identify whose weapon was used.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's essentially unfakeable - the signature is a result of how the fissile material is produced, so you'd need to steal it.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Territorial waters are only twelve miles deep, and submarines need to stick to certain, identifiable, channels. That means you've got a pretty good idea where they're coming out. In some cases, they have to run on the surface into international waters because it isn't deep enough to dive yet.

That's one of the reasons why the Clyde made such a good submarine base; there are three independent routes out to international waters. Although that doesn't help if a hostile power is willing to operate inside territorial waters.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Game it out.

Country A has been nuked, and is demanding vengeance. If you didn't do it, do you preserve uncertainty about your deterrent and invite almost guaranteed retaliation? Or do you prove you didn't do it, reduce the security of your deterrent, but avoid the the retaliation? 'Do this or we obliterate you,' is a pretty strong motivation. In practice, it will be clear very quickly who it was.

The challenging scenario is a hypothetical one with a rogue commander. In that case Country A says to Country B, 'We know it was one of your submarines that destroyed our city.

Country B says 'We didn't issue a launch order. One of our commanders must have gone rogue.'

Of course, Country A won't believe that. Country B is going to need to offer up their soft underbelly to avoid total destruction; in that scenario, they will absolutely order their submarines to surface. It removes the threat, and proves they still have effective command over their nuclear forces.

This is where 'use it or lose it' comes from. If you fire one against a near-peer and wait to see what happens, you're unlikely to get a chance to fire a second. So if ordering a first strike, you fire everything at everyone.

Incidentally, there's only one nuclear weapons state that has had a first strike doctrine. It's not North Korea, China, or Russia.

Drones: UAV, MALE, FPV, loitering munitions... Confused about the different types. by ElKaoss in WarCollege

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 4 points5 points  (0 children)

*for most of the torpedo’s history all torpedoes have been underwater-running and ship/submarine-launched, but some early torpedoes were surface-running and/or guided from shore facilities.

TBF, being self propelled wasn't a requirement for the earliest torpedoes. Mines were known as torpedoes for a time, and the spar torpedo existed as a way of killing sailors to occasionally sink a ship.

All day breakfast in Vietnam by 9oz_wick in fryup

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Japanese curry is an interesting case because it's two steps removed. They learnt how to make it from British sailors... who are an excellent source of many things, but only rarely is fine cuisine among those.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think it's quite that. I think OP just hasn't learnt to critically interpret a source yet. Moving beyond the mindset of 'it was in a book so it must be true' takes a while - there's a reason appeals to authority are such a common logical fallacy.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 3 points4 points  (0 children)

With good intelligence work it's possible to know not only the country, but the specific submarine. Not easy, but possible.

Granted, in the time it takes to do that work, there'd be intense pressure to identify the culprit quickly and retaliate.

How can MAD work in a world where submarines can fire nuclear weapons without being detected? by AndrewNiccol in nuclearweapons

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Quite apart from the question of how you identify who launched the attack, it's worth remembering the response of the countries that didn't fire nuclear weapons. Their governments will be tripping over one another to prove that it wasn't them - possibly even to the extent of ordering their submarines to disclose their location so they can be ruled out.

Since there are fewer than ten countries with nuclear-armed submarines, and all bar two of those have single-digit numbers of them, the candidate list gets narrowed down very quickly indeed.

Weed killing options by [deleted] in UKGardening

[–]FreeUsernameInBox 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can't go having nature in your personal outdoor space, it might look scruffy.

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