siyt@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (p.jayne) (11/15/89)
From: siyt@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (p.jayne) How does the Navy intend to escort convoys? There aren't that many supercarriers. Recent postings have led me to suppose that fleets of Backfires will sweep all surface ships (but supercarriers) from the ocean, and nuclear subs will do in the carriers. Sounds grim. So was Billy Mitchell just a little premature? Paul Jayne
frank0@ibmpcug.co.uk (Frank Dunn) (11/20/89)
From: Frank Dunn <frank0@ibmpcug.co.uk> In article <11429@cbnews.ATT.COM> siyt@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (p.jayne) writes: > > > From: siyt@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (p.jayne) > > How does the Navy intend to escort convoys? There aren't that many > supercarriers. Recent postings have led me to suppose that fleets > of Backfires will sweep all surface ships (but supercarriers) from > the ocean, and nuclear subs will do in the carriers. Sounds grim. > So was Billy Mitchell just a little premature? > Paul Jayne The USN would use Frigates as close escorts. There has been some lengthy playing around with variations on protecting shipping, the protected lane is one. In this there would be a defined lane in which groups of ships would proceed independently. Local escorts would patrol it with towed array Frigates on the outer periphery. Within this lane would roam the current equivalent of WW2 hunter killer groups - small ASW carriers. Up threat would be SSNs in predefinded areas along with the big carriers, to take care of the air threat and subs penetrating the lane. Would it work? Given the co-ordination over a wide area it would require and the benefits of the closely grouped convoy? It does allow the hunters to hunt but as ASW is certainly more difficult than it was 5 years ago it spreads limited assets over a very wide area. -- Automatic Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not represent the views of the IBM PC User Group.