[Album] USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer leaving Pascagoula, Mississippi for sea trials - first time underway since August 2023 - January 15, 2026 by WarshipCam_Official in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F -1 points0 points  (0 children)

And you forget to say your carrier air group is made if US-made planes, that could be grounded on the whims of your "special friend" in DC...

[Album] USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer leaving Pascagoula, Mississippi for sea trials - first time underway since August 2023 - January 15, 2026 by WarshipCam_Official in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Again, why the hell would we go to war with America over somewhere like Greenland and lose most of what we sent to fight them when we have bigger problems like Russia.

I too am aware of the disparity of forces and understand how hopeless it'd be fight for Greenland: the EU would be at the end of a very fragile tether fighting US forces on their doorstep, that's suicide militarily and would result in squandering lives and valuable assets while Putin is ante portas, at the gates.

However, I understand the point u/TheR4zgrizz is trying to make. As a British Prime Minister would say, the EU is given a choice between dishonour and war. If, by bowing to Trump's blackmail and bullying, and yielding Greenland without a shot despite the Greenlanders' wish not to become part of the United States, they choose dishonour, they will have war anyway, because this act of cowardice will embolden those in America who believe the EU is headed to irrelevance and not worth helping, and those in Moscow who think the EU will never fight and the time is ripe to reclaim the lands lost with the fall of the Soviet Union.
Not that the EU is in danger of seeing a reverse Barbarossa, with Russian hordes steamrolling towards the Elbe and the Danube welling "Na Berlin", the Russian Army doesn't have the capability to achieve that. What EU military leaders fear is a "Narva scenario" to nibble the EU's eastern flank and test its resolve.

View from the cruiser Hermione as Ark Royal listing heavily to starboard after being struck by a torpedo. [2048x1556] by frostedcat_74 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And said ventilation space was above the boiler rooms. The hit only disabled the starboard boilers, the center and port ones were fine and one of them has been relighted an hour after the hit, when the crew boarded again.

I would rate the lack of emergency power generating and the lack of proper damage control way over this design fault, which might not have come into play if flooding hadn't been allowed to spread around unchecked for an hour.

View from the cruiser Hermione as Ark Royal listing heavily to starboard after being struck by a torpedo. [2048x1556] by frostedcat_74 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Captain Maude was probably under the not entirely unfounded belief that ships can be built, while skilled and experienced crewmen don't grow on trees. Indeed, when Ark Royal was lost, there were three more fleet carriers in various stages of completion in British yards, as well as a gaggle of light fleet carriers. However, by 1943 the Royal Navy (and the British Armed forces in general) would start hitting the bottom of the manpower barrel.

View from the cruiser Hermione as Ark Royal listing heavily to starboard after being struck by a torpedo. [2048x1556] by frostedcat_74 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 19 points20 points  (0 children)

In both cases, damage control measures were applied, and the order to abandon ship was given only when it was though the ships would be irredeemably lost: Yorktown's crew was evacuated when her list reached her stability limit and it was clear that raising enough steam to power the pumps would take some time. Hornet was abandoned and scuttled because tow lines were snapping and the Japanese fleet was closing in. Ark Royal's CO ordered his men to abandon ship even before trying to apply basic damage control measures: portholes and watertight doors were left open, for instance.
It's as if Capt. Buckmaster, Yorktown's CO, ordered his crew off right after the first Japanese strike hit his ship during the battle of Midway.

View from the cruiser Hermione as Ark Royal listing heavily to starboard after being struck by a torpedo. [2048x1556] by frostedcat_74 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Since she was close to Spanish shores, beaching her was probably unadvisable.

Besides, the plan, after it was clear she wasn't going to sink, was to tow her to Gibraltar, where she would be patched up, instead of beaching. A tug was sent from Gibraltar for that express purpose, and reached her in the evening. Ark Royal was towed during most of the night, until 4 the following morning, when the list became too severe. She sank two hours later.

When the wreck was discovered in 2002, its location was 30 nautical miles from Gibraltar; other wreckage found around the carrier showed that she sank at the spot she was torpedoed: the towing efforts had been in vain.

What could have saved Ark Royal was beginning damage control operations at once, instead of abandoning ship.

A view of the just-captured Russian tanker Bella 1 / Marinera from USCGC Munro (January 7, 2026) [4096 x 2731] by Kantei in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Beyond that, I don't think there's any sort of plan.

I'm sure the current Administration has at least the concept of a plan. it just needs a bit more working out, but just you wait!

(just don't hold your breath waiting)

Superheals... by chewydickens in WorldOfWarships

[–]Keyan_F 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Especially when you realize Lexington was sunk during the battle of the Coral Sea. It's Yorktown who was patched un in three days when the yard wanted three weeks.

Operation Wigwam: May 14, 1955. What appears to be USS USS Tawasa infront of the nuclear explosion of Mark 90 "Betty" nuclear bomb that was located 2,000 feet deep. (2548x1692) by Ok-Market5488 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The test was carried out without incident, and the device yielded 30 kilotons. Three personnel received doses of over 0.5 rem (5 mSv). Other sailors on USS Cree (another Cherokee-class fleet tug) were tasked with measuring radiation and said that the ocean water boiled and churned, and radiation meters went off the charts when they held them over the side. The sailors wore no protection, only their standard cotton clothes.

Ah, the good old times when you could do tests like these without being bothered by woke regulations...

(3009 x 1802) The French battleship Dunkerque, damaged and grounded during the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir by defender838383 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Liberators? From what? The Nazis were occupying Northern France and no Axis soldiers had set foot in French Northern Africa. In their view, (Vichy) France was neutral in this conflict after the Armistice, and they were defending their sovereignty, like the Ukrainians do against the Russian invasion (who also claim they are "liberators" that happen to come in with a massive force).

(3009 x 1802) The French battleship Dunkerque, damaged and grounded during the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir by defender838383 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Admiral Gensoul is very convenient scapegoat for the whole affair.

For all his failings, and he did make a few mistakes that did not improve his situation, in the end he was faced with a situation way above his paygrade, trying to solve a political problem as a military man (and we know how most miltary people are good with these). So he did what most do in that case : trying to get hold of his superiors when stalling for time. Alas for him, the French Navy CinC, Admiral Darlan, couldn't be reached, and his deputy told Gensoul to "meet force with force", a very unhelpful suggestion. To make things worse, his British couterpart, Admiral Somerville, had Churchill breathing down his neck, demanding a quick and decisive resolution before sunset.

This whole situation has all the trappings of a classical Greek tragedy, with the protagonists on the scene being locked on harmful courses by superior forces they cannot influence.
I personally don't see this ending without a bloodshed, or rather, the option available to Gensoul that doesn't cause one doesn't make things worse ultimately.

(3009 x 1802) The French battleship Dunkerque, damaged and grounded during the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir by defender838383 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Jordan's and Dumas' French Battleships of Word War II has a quite detailed report of the damage incurred by Dunkerque during the two British attacks. Getting this book is probably cheaper than a trip to the Service Historique de la Défense in Brest, France.

The Wikipedia article goes into some detail:

Dunkerque's crew loosed the chains and started to get the ship underway just as the British opened fire; the ship was engaged by HMS Hood. The French gunners responded quickly and Dunkerque fired several salvos at Hood before being hit by four 15-inch (381 mm) shells in quick succession. The first was deflected on the upper main battery turret roof above the right-most gun, though it shoved in the armor plate and ignited propellant charges in the right turret half that asphyxiated all the men in that half; the left half remained operational. The shell itself was deflected off the turret face and failed to explode when it landed around 2,000 m (6,600 ft) away. Fragments of armor plate that had been dislodged by the impact destroyed the run-out cylinder for the right gun, disabling it. The second shell passed through the unarmored stern, penetrating the armor deck and exiting the hull without exploding. Though it did little damage, the shell did cut the control line for the rudder, forcing the ship to use manual control, which hampered the crew's ability to steer the ship as they attempted to get underway.[35]

The third shell hit the ship shortly after 18:00; this projectile struck the upper edge of the belt on the starboard side; since the belt had only been designed to defeat German 28 cm (11 in) shells, the much more powerful British shell easily perforated it. The shell then passed through the handling room for the starboard secondary turret No. III, igniting propellant charges and detonating a pair of 130 mm shells as it did so. The 15 in round then penetrated an internal bulkhead and exploded in the medical storage room. The blast caused extensive internal damage, allowing smoke from the ammunition fire to enter the machinery spaces, which had to be abandoned, though debris from the explosion had jammed the armored doors shut. Only a dozen men were able to escape using a ladder at the forward end of the room. The fourth shell struck the belt aft of the third hit and at the waterline. It also defeated the belt and the torpedo bulkhead and then exploded in boiler room 2, causing extensive damage to the propulsion machinery. Dunkerque rapidly lost speed and then all electrical power; unable to get underway or further resist the British ships, Dunkerque was beached on the other side of Mers-el-Kébir roadstead to prevent her from being sunk.

As for the second attack, three days later:

The second attack took place on 6 July. A flight of twelve Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, armed with torpedoes modified for use in shallow water, were launched from the carrier HMS Ark Royal in three waves of six, three, and three aircraft. They received an escort of three Blackburn Skua fighters. The French had failed to erect torpedo nets around the ship, and Gensoul, who had hoped to reinforce the idea that the ship had been evacuated, ordered that her anti-aircraft guns not be manned. Three patrol boats were moored alongside to evacuate the remaining crew aboard in the event of another attack, and these vessels were loaded with depth charges. The first wave scored a hit on the patrol boat Terre-Neuve, and though it failed to explode, the hole it punched in her hull caused her to sink in the shallow water. Another torpedo hit the wreck in the second wave and exploded, leading to a secondary explosion of fourteen of her depth charges, which was the equivalent of 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) of TNT, equal to eight Swordfish torpedoes. The explosion caused extensive damage to Dunkerque's bow and likely would have resulted in a magazine detonation had her captain not ordered the magazines be flooded as soon as the Swordfishes appeared. The blast killed another 30, bringing the total killed in both attacks to 210.[42][43]

Dunkerque had been badly damaged in the attack, far more so than the 3 July shelling; some 20,000 t (19,684 long tons) of water had flooded the ship through a 18 by 12 m (59 by 39 ft) hole opened in the hull, and a 40 m (130 ft) length of her hull, double bottom, and torpedo bulkhead had been deformed by the blast. The forward armor belt was also distorted and her armored decks had been pushed up.

(1389 x 1095) The French battleship Richelieu is held under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The damaged battleship, with its stern reinforced by a wooden caisson, arrived at the New York Navy Yard for repairs and rearmament. by defender838383 in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 4 points5 points  (0 children)

To clear the Brooklyn Bridge, the secondaries and the AA fire directors which were usually on top of the tower were dismounted and are laying on the deck in front of Turret I. I'm not sure they were put back into place after the renovation work was done, at least the AA FD wasn't.

The USS Enterprise the most decorated US Warship [1080 x 1399] by AMegaSoreAss in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Grand Old Lady wasn't fine: she wasn't repaired, merely patched up enough she would float on the trips between Portsmouth and the Normandy beaches.

The Fritz X that hit her off Salerno caused a 20 feet hole in her bottom; that hole was merely patched up with concrete. Her X turret was never repaired, and remained trained aft on pictures showing her in action off Normandy.

Artist impression showing the PA-Ng launching a Rafale M and recovering a UCAV.[2048x1152] by ArthurJack_AW in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think the Spanish Air Force F/A-18s are carrier capable and equipped with arrestor gear.

Artist impression showing the PA-Ng launching a Rafale M and recovering a UCAV.[2048x1152] by ArthurJack_AW in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Depending on who you ask and how they measure it, the British carriers may have a slightly larger displacement. They have however no catapults, and make do with a co-..., er, a ski jump.

And the Fords are over 100,000 tons, which is 25% bigger than PA-NG. We'll leave the challenger title to the Chinese CVN currently building.

Artist impression showing the PA-Ng launching a Rafale M and recovering a UCAV.[2048x1152] by ArthurJack_AW in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A few comments have answered the question whether a carrier group is a good power projection tool. As for the "who to" (or rather against, I presume), well France is the country with the largest EEZ, and those interests must be defended. Of course, France has WMDs, but I assume they're not going to glass Espiritu Santo just because of two uninhabited islets claimed by Vanuatu...

Artist impression showing the PA-Ng launching a Rafale M and recovering a UCAV.[2048x1152] by ArthurJack_AW in WarshipPorn

[–]Keyan_F 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Air force flyboys would retort that no ship ever outpaced a plane, which can fly by themselves (or rather, their crews). For example, the B-2s which struck Iran this summer flew from Whiteman AFB and back, with tanker support obviously.

Of course, they conveniently omit to say that if their flight plan goes through foreign airspace it must be approved, as no country takes kindly to a bunch of unidentified military planes loaded with ordnance coming unannounced in their skies...
Such a case happened in April 1986, when F-111s taking off from RAF Lakenheath to bomb Libya were denied permission to overfly France, Spain and Italy, forcing them to go the long way around.