9 ms·

On the positive side, it sounds like there was very little damage to the tanker which would have had a devastating impact to the environment had it leaked its c

On the positive side, it sounds like there was very little damage to the tanker which would have had a devastating impact to the environment had it leaked its contents / sunk.

mcv 8y ago
Absolutely. When I hear about a collision between a warship and an oil tanker, I'd expect the warship to rip straight through the oil tanker, with devastating results. It's an unintended benefit of flimsy modern warships, I guess. But it'd be better if they actually watched where they're going.
- dagw 8y ago
  When I hear about a collision between a warship and an oil tanker, I'd expect the warship to rip straight through the oil tanker, with devastating results. I think you're seriously underestimating how big and heavy oil tanker are. The oil tanker in this case weighed roughly 20 times (with cargo) what the warship did. From the warships point of view they might as well have rammed an island.
  - mcv 8y ago
    I don't doubt the tanker is big, but I'd expect it to be a lot less armored, and built as cheaply as possible. In any case, I'm glad my expectations are wrong.
    - Tor3 8y ago
      Modern tankers have double hulls, to avoid (or trying to avoid) disastrous oil spills in case of accidents. In addition to other strengthening measures. Quite the opposite of built as cheap as possible. Warships, on the other hand, are often built for speed, and something has to give. I remember visiting a (smaller) warship once, it could reach 40 knots, and it had a normal hull (not a catamaran or trimaran). The crew said the whole ship was made of very lightweight material.
    - dagw 8y ago
      I doubt they put much armor or modern warships, as speed and maneuverability is probably a far more important asset and modern munitions could probably punch through any reasonable armor you could put on a ship and still make it sail.
- mjlee 8y ago
  It's better for a warship to be light and maneuverable than heavy and cumbersome. The days of slinging shells at each other are pretty much gone - and no amount of armour is going to save you from Exocet [1] in the way that getting out of the way and firing chaff/flares will. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet

On the positive side, it sounds like there was very little damage to the tanker which would have had a devastating impact to the environment had it leaked its contents / sunk.

mcv 8y ago

Absolutely. When I hear about a collision between a warship and an oil tanker, I'd expect the warship to rip straight through the oil tanker, with devastating results. It's an unintended benefit of flimsy modern warships, I guess. But it'd be better if they actually watched where they're going.

dagw 8y ago
When I hear about a collision between a warship and an oil tanker, I'd expect the warship to rip straight through the oil tanker, with devastating results. I think you're seriously underestimating how big and heavy oil tanker are. The oil tanker in this case weighed roughly 20 times (with cargo) what the warship did. From the warships point of view they might as well have rammed an island.
- mcv 8y ago
  I don't doubt the tanker is big, but I'd expect it to be a lot less armored, and built as cheaply as possible. In any case, I'm glad my expectations are wrong.
  - Tor3 8y ago
    Modern tankers have double hulls, to avoid (or trying to avoid) disastrous oil spills in case of accidents. In addition to other strengthening measures. Quite the opposite of built as cheap as possible. Warships, on the other hand, are often built for speed, and something has to give. I remember visiting a (smaller) warship once, it could reach 40 knots, and it had a normal hull (not a catamaran or trimaran). The crew said the whole ship was made of very lightweight material.
  - dagw 8y ago
    I doubt they put much armor or modern warships, as speed and maneuverability is probably a far more important asset and modern munitions could probably punch through any reasonable armor you could put on a ship and still make it sail.
mjlee 8y ago
It's better for a warship to be light and maneuverable than heavy and cumbersome. The days of slinging shells at each other are pretty much gone - and no amount of armour is going to save you from Exocet [1] in the way that getting out of the way and firing chaff/flares will. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet