Pakistan rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal

[Neil]

Destroyer have armor, right?
Can it just ram and cut in half a 16th century galleon?

We need to send this to the mythbusters.

I'm sure it could ram and destroy those ships, but it would take damage doing so.  It would be more effective to use the deck gun, and then send a Tomahawk to Madrid.

[Razgovory]

Being alien would mean we had no idea what their motives would be.  They would be by defintion "alien".

[Neil]

Being alien would mean we had no idea what their motives would be.  They would be by defintion "alien".

Well, we can make some assumptions, based on what we know about them, and what we would have in common.

[jimmy olsen]

Being alien would mean we had no idea what their motives would be.  They would be by defintion "alien".

Well, we can make some assumptions, based on what we know about them, and what we would have in common.

Look how varied humans can be though in their cultures and motives, an alien may be similar to one, or complete different beyond our frame of reference.

[Razgovory]

Being alien would mean we had no idea what their motives would be.  They would be by defintion "alien".

Well, we can make some assumptions, based on what we know about them, and what we would have in common.

Yeah we can.  But since it based on what we know about them which is nothing at all then our assumptions have little validity.

[Neil]

Yeah we can.  But since it based on what we know about them which is nothing at all then our assumptions have little validity.

We know that they are technically proficient and capable of surviving interstellar transit.  That allows us to draw certain conclusions.

[Neil]

Being alien would mean we had no idea what their motives would be.  They would be by defintion "alien".

Well, we can make some assumptions, based on what we know about them, and what we would have in common.

Look how varied humans can be though in their cultures and motives, an alien may be similar to one, or complete different beyond our frame of reference.

Nothing is beyond my frame of reference, because I use reason.

[Octavian]

it's odd that using the nukes only counts for "used in battle"... as if the hundreds of nukes that were detonated as tests are somehow "not used".

You count masturbation as having sex? OK.

[Razgovory]

Yeah we can.  But since it based on what we know about them which is nothing at all then our assumptions have little validity.

We know that they are technically proficient and capable of surviving interstellar transit.  That allows us to draw certain conclusions.

They could have simply stolen someone elses techonology.  They could be intergalactic highjackers like in "High Crusade".

[Neil]

Yeah we can.  But since it based on what we know about them which is nothing at all then our assumptions have little validity.

We know that they are technically proficient and capable of surviving interstellar transit.  That allows us to draw certain conclusions.

They could have simply stolen someone elses techonology.  They could be intergalactic highjackers like in "High Crusade".

Then they'd use it to destroy themselves.  If people are socially and psychologically unprepared, decades or more in interstellar space can be devastating.

[grumbler]

It would probably run out of ammunition.

Not until long after the Armada ran out of ships!

[Neil]

It would probably run out of ammunition.

Not until long after the Armada ran out of ships!

One would imagine so.  Actually, I wonder what the effects would be of a single modern 5" shell hit on an old-style ship.

[The Brain]

It would probably run out of ammunition.

Not until long after the Armada ran out of ships!

One would imagine so.  Actually, I wonder what the effects would be of a single modern 5" shell hit on an old-style ship.

A Soviet galleon? It would just shrug it off thanks to its vastly superior armor.

[Berkut]

It would probably run out of ammunition.

Not until long after the Armada ran out of ships!

One would imagine so.  Actually, I wonder what the effects would be of a single modern 5" shell hit on an old-style ship.

Well, I think the opening days of the ACW pretty much put to rest the idea of the wooden navy in the time of the rifled shell, and those things were surely not particualrly powerful compared to a modern shell.

But then, 5" isn't THAT big - I wonder how it compares to a ACW era naval rifle in size?

Of course, at the range we are talking about, if 1 doesn't do the trick, no problem, pump in a couple more.

[Neil]

But then, 5" isn't THAT big - I wonder how it compares to a ACW era naval rifle in size?

The US used Parrott heavy artillery rifles in 60, 100 and 150-pound sizes, and they bored 5.3, 6.4 and 8 inches.  There were also some smaller ones.  Merrimack used 6 and 7 inch rifles against Monitor.

Well, I think the opening days of the ACW pretty much put to rest the idea of the wooden navy in the time of the rifled shell, and those things were surely not particualrly powerful compared to a modern shell.

I'd say that it had already been done at Sinope, eight years earlier.  The American navies were a bit behind the curve.