Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: aoki@postgres.Berkeley.EDU (Paul M. Aoki)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Ship survivability (Was: USS Midway)
Message-ID: <1990Jul6.032725.27614@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 6 Jul 90 03:27:25 GMT
References: <1990Jun30.053912.4518@cbnews.att.com> <1990Jul5.020444.14132@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Postgres Research Group, UC Berkeley
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: aoki@postgres.Berkeley.EDU (Paul M. Aoki)

wrf@mab.ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) writes:
>1. Standards  for  buildings on land  often  require a heat  detector in
>every storeroom.  Why don't ships do this?  Would the  extra wiring pose
>a greater threat than the earlier notice?  Would there be too many false
>alarms?

Newer ships, e.g., the DD-963 class and the classes derived from it,
have such detectors all over the place.  I have no idea whether
relics like MIDWAY have been retrofitted with them.

>2.  Why isn't Halon used?  It's used  in computer  rooms on land.   It's
>supposed  to  quench  most fires at  a  concentration not (immediately?)
>fatal  to people?   If it's  a  war,  the immediate danger  of  the ship
>sinking is greater than the danger  of future cancers (the  Agent Orange
>argument).  Note that I'm  not certain that Halon is  a long term hazard
>to people.

Halon *is* used on just about every Navy surface combatant.  On the
DD-963 class, Halon is used to protect the main engineering spaces
and the flam-storage spaces.  Cancer isn't the problem, it's the
fact that the fumes from Halon at high temperature are toxic.  (It's
pretty exciting in a main space when someone activates Halon --
a flashing, rotating, police-style red light goes on, as well as an
ear-splitting klaxon, the point being "YOU HAVE SIXTY SECONDS TO GET
OUT OF THE SPACE" ..)  Unfortunately, Halon isn't a panacea; it may
work wonders on a Class C fire in a computer room with the power
secured, but it isn't always effective in blazing-hot metal boxes
(rooms) filled with paint, fuel oil, or what have you.  Most fires
wind up being fought by the E-3 with an OBA and a fire hose, spraying 
seawater or foam.

Disclaimer: I don't speak for DOD, DON, or anyone else.  Nor am I a DCA.
--
Paul M. Aoki | aoki@postgres.Berkeley.EDU | "Nice girls don't explode."