Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Disposition of American Battleships
Message-ID: <1990Oct25.014614.9889@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 25 Oct 90 01:46:14 GMT
References: <1990Oct22.035601.17395@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 28
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold)
>From article <1990Oct22.035601.17395@cbnews.att.com>, by ut-emx!osmigo@emx.utexas.edu (rn):
> 
> Quite often, I see that bomb on some documentary on TV, where various
> ships are swallowed up by this huge nuclear blast. Does anyone know 
> what the effects were on these ships? Were they vaporized? Capsized? 
> Fragmented?

I expect you are describing the BAKER test, which was an underwater
detonation.  This produces a large wave, maybe 120 ft. high, called
the "base surge".  The photos show the ships being engulfed by this
mass of water/water vapor/mist.

Needless to say, there was some damage from the base surge due to the
weight of the water, and considerable damage from the shock wave 
transmitted through the water.  Large diesel generators were torn from
their foundations and bounced around inside engine spaces, for example.

In addition to the structural damage, there was intense radiation 
due to the fallout in the base surge water (sand and bottom debris
which was sucked up in the fireball).  The conclusion was that an
underwater burst could be highly effective against a concentrated
naval force.  Ship designs later included washdown systems and the
"citadel" concept (more or less abandoned in the '60s).

Pat Kauffold    AT&T Bel Labs