[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> A hypothetical for you. How will you react if China attacks Taiwan, and
> the transfer of US Atlantic Fleet assets to the 7th Fleet in the Pacific
is
> delayed by "technical problems" with the canal? A convenient collapse in
> the Gaillard Cut, say, or a malfunction in one of the locks. Would
> Carter's move have been a good idea then?
I have a question -- how many ships in the fleet *fit* through the
canal?
One of the justifications I remember (and may be mis-remembering) was
that so many of our military vessels were too big to go through the
canal that it wasn't as important strategically as it had been at the
time it was built.
Julia
Me:
All of them, so far as I know. Supertankers can't fit through the canal -
which is why people propose digging a new one through Lake Nicaragua every
so often - but even a Nimitz class can, I believe, get through the locks if
you're very careful. It's a tight squeeze, but it can be done. Certainly
every other ship in the fleet can do so without difficulty.
Gautam
