Mike asked: > Counter measures? > > Sonar bouys > Mines > Submarines and like > PT boats and other like means to set up a screen?
Mines are used to defend stationary sites (by blocking access to a base, for example) or to strike at random enemy targets (by mining enemy shipping routes). Keeping a carrier in port makes it much easier to find, so mines are not effective defenses. No carrier should operate alone, and that is where the other three come in. Sonobuoys (read: ASW planes), patrol boats and attack subs are all anti-sub weapons. Patrol boats are unlikely to keep up with a carrier on blue water deployments, but ASW ships are likely part of the battlegroup. Air defense tends to require larger ships, from large destroyers to cruisers, while subhunting is left to smaller destroyers and specialized frigates. The effect of the screen will have to be considered along with the defenses of the carrier itself; only a small part of the attacks is going to hit. TL6 bombs are more likely to miss on their own accord, while TL7+ missiles face modern missile defenses. A carrier is SM+11 to +13, so hitting it from 5,000 feet (-18) with a bomb (-9) is going to scatter rather badly, even with an improved bombsight. Dive-bombing is much more likely to hit, but also more dangerous for the plane. I don't think there are any 'official' writeups for TL7 carriers, but some things are clear. The volume will be around 10 million cf, give or take few million, for around 1,680,000 hit points. Taking it out with pure concussion damage requires 20 tons of TNT, or 15 tons of TL7 warheads if my math is right. I suspect the rules are a bit broken. Somewhere around 63 Harpoon, 85 Exocet, 44 SS-N-22, or 19 SS-N-19. Little wonder the Soviets considered nuclear missiles. At tech level 8, carriers won't be much larger, but the damage per warhead triples -- most likely at a mature TL8, not quite yet. The rules don't work quite right for 'torpedo under the keel', since that would be non-contact damage and hence DR gets squared. Torpedoes tend to have bigger warheads than the missiles listed above, but it still takes hits in the double digits to sink a carrier. For TL6, fire and secondary explosions were a major factor. For TL7, the effects of full fire suppression systems will render it moot. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
