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The decommissioned frigate ex-USS Thatch was expended as a target during this month’s Rim of the Pacific (or RIMPAC) 2016 exercise.
The decommissioned frigate ex-USS Thatch was expended as a target during this month’s Rim of the Pacific (or RIMPAC) 2016 exercise.
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Stubborn old girl. One has to wonder, with DC and watertight conditions set, if she would have made it back, or even continued the fight. Guaranteed kills, aren’t.
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Curious about the torpedo shot– a bit underwhelming. Did they use something less than a heavyweight torpedo? A MK-48!should have, if it fused properly, removed the bow entirely. I’ve watched ships twice her size fold in half.
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Stormy, the bigger ships had their keel broken in two by a Mk-48 firing under the ship. This looked like a contact hit on the lower part of the stem. Note the whiplash damage at the RAST.
URR, tough is right. FFG-7s were a good design. Did you see the AP round go went right through the ship. The damage was minimized by the lack of onboard ammo and fuel.
Just once I’d like to see a sink-ex with a ship maneuvering in rain at full speed, with Nixie streamed and some ECCM working. I do understand why the sink-ex conditions have to be as shown.
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From a lay perspective, the ship looked in good enough shape to be reconditioned. We certainly do not have an overabundance of combat capable ships. Hope we learned enough in the exercise that made it worthwhile.
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The country is going to regret not building anymore Frigates. The Figs, and the Garcia and Knox Class DE/Frigates were all good designs. The country is poorer for having lost them with no good replacements in the pipeline.
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XBradTC 
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