• salty_chief@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    We did a gun shoot on a wooden built raft with .50 cals and M16s. It was harder than expected to sink the raft. I would say a cannon ball would do massive damage but today’s ships can move quicker. So ultimately the newer ships would more than likely win.

    • sartalon@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      The wood floats, you don’t need to worry about hull integrity of a raft since it doesn’t displace water.

      Use the .50 cal on an old ship’s water line and that sucker will be listing in no time.

      Use it on the canon deck and there won’t be any cannoneers left.

      Edit: I am now imagining what a helo, with a GAU-2, would do to one of those old ships.

      (A helo with a GAU-21 can technically be part of the ship’s compliment. Though I can’t recall if an H-60S is compatible to land, stay on board since they have the tail wheel further back and no RAST to get them in the hangar.)

    • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Did we all forget about the CSS Virginia vs USS Monitor? Those cannonballs just bounced off each other and marked the end of the era for wooden warships.

      Modern metal should be even better even if it’s not considered armor by today’s standards.