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From: n8443916@unicorn.wwu.edu (John Gossman)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Possible BB mission in Gulf
Message-ID: <1990Aug28.042652.28982@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 28 Aug 90 04:26:52 GMT
References: <1990Aug17.023708.1350@cbnews.att.com> <1990Aug22.025605.16798@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Western Washington Univ, Bellingham, WA
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From: n8443916@unicorn.wwu.edu (John Gossman)

>> Some of you might be saying "What can the Wisconsin due to Iraq from the
>> eastern mediterranean?".  Answer: (one possible one)  She has tomohawk
>> cruise missiles as well. 
>
>Within a few days the Marine Corps will have a built up a substantial
>amphibious assault capability, which would be might useful if it were
>The Wisconsin can easily hit targets 15-20 miles inland, day or night.
>Ask any Marine what this means if he has to go in over the beach.
>Air power is great, but (IMHO) NGFS would be essential to a successful
>assault from the sea.  You should see what a VT fused 16" HE round does
>to troops in the open. Shazam!
       -----------^^^^
	My father was among the Marines that landed on Saipan.  He recalls
American BBs and Cruisers shelling the beaches for hours before the landing.
When the Marines hit the beach everything looked like it had gone through
a grinder.  BUT... The dug in Japanese positions were relatively undamaged.
Basically its better than nothing, but pre-invasion bombardment is not
going to substitute for hard fighting at the beachhead.

--John Gossman

SoftSource Inc.


[mod.note: But it *can* take the steam out of a counterattack.  After
all, we're unlikely to meet any shore defenses of the sort constructed
on Pacific islands in WWII.  The big problem would be holding off an
early counterattack.- Bill ]