Comments on: Converting Vulcan Centaur Rocket into “Space Destroyer” https://habitablezone.com/2024/12/24/converting-vulcan-cenaur-rocket-into-space-destroyer/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2024/12/24/converting-vulcan-cenaur-rocket-into-space-destroyer/#comment-53740 ER Tue, 31 Dec 2024 21:29:11 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=105240#comment-53740 Late in the nineteenth century, two inventions appeared that revolutionized naval warfare. The torpedo, and the steam turbine. Prior to that, the effectiveness of a warship was determined by the power of its guns and the thickness of its armor; the ability to cause damage, and the ability to resist being damaged. The battleship represented the ultimate fighting ship, capable of lobbing huge projectiles over long distances, as well as being able to absorb multiple hits from those projectiles and still continue fighting. The inventions of the turbine and torpedo allowed the development of small, fast, highly maneuverable vessels capable of launching weapons that were able to sink any ship, no matter how large and well armored. These were the torpedo boats, a new class of warship that could swarm onto a line of huge battleships and send them to the bottom. These torpedo boats were also cheap--and expendable! Squadrons of them could attack battle fleets and in the melee a small vessel not much bigger than a yacht or fishing boat could take on a dreadnought. Sure, the big battlewagons could easily sink them, but if one got through in the confusion it was all over. Naval planners countered the torpedo boat threat with a new class of ship, the 'torpedo boat destroyer' whose guns were strong enough to drive off the new menace, but which had the speed and maneuverability as well, to engage them. This torpedo boat destroyer was built with little or no armor, so it could achieve these goals, but were large enough that they had the endurance and sea-keeping ability to escort the big battleships anywhere they had to go. They could also easily be adapted to counter another new threat, the submarine. And when naval aviation became a problem, the new TPDs could also be fitted out with anti-aircraft weapons, they could be used to lay mines, smokescreens, and perform other tasks such as scouts, pickets, fast raiders as well as carry their own torpedoes to deal with enemy battlewagons. The torpedo boat destroyer soon came to be called simply 'destroyer' and the new class soon began to take over many of the roles formerly held by cruisers and other major ships, a cheap and expendable vessel not to be included in the battleline but in a variety of supporting roles. Today, the battleship has disappeared from modern navies, and its smaller escorts (such as cruisers, in their many variations) are also disappearing and the destroyer has become the major surface combatant. Today, destroyers are all-purpose ships capable of carrying out a variety of combat roles, as well as the escort function for larger vessels such as aircraft carriers. The destroyer class is also appearing in a variety of specialized roles, such as anti-aircraft, submarine defense, convoy duty, blockade enforcement, shore bombardment and even radar picket. Today, destroyers can be small, very large (and expensive) and serve the world's navies under a variety of different names assigned to different missions (corvette, frigate, destroyer leader). The cheap, disposable destroyer has become a bloated and expensive unit either hopelessly over-specialized, or so tasked with multiple missions it cannot accomplish any one of them effectively. Destroyers now are as big as WWII cruisers and can cost well over a Gigabuck. So much for expendable. A major naval war has not been fought in a long time, and as usual, when one finally comes along naval planners will quickly learn all their speculation and theory will quickly become obsolete once the shooting starts. Late in the nineteenth century, two inventions appeared that revolutionized naval warfare. The torpedo, and the steam turbine. Prior to that, the effectiveness of a warship was determined by the power of its guns and the thickness of its armor; the ability to cause damage, and the ability to resist being damaged. The battleship represented the ultimate fighting ship, capable of lobbing huge projectiles over long distances, as well as being able to absorb multiple hits from those projectiles and still continue fighting.

The inventions of the turbine and torpedo allowed the development of small, fast, highly maneuverable vessels capable of launching weapons that were able to sink any ship, no matter how large and well armored. These were the torpedo boats, a new class of warship that could swarm onto a line of huge battleships and send them to the bottom. These torpedo boats were also cheap–and expendable! Squadrons of them could attack battle fleets and in the melee a small vessel not much bigger than a yacht or fishing boat could take on a dreadnought. Sure, the big battlewagons could easily sink them, but if one got through in the confusion it was all over.

Naval planners countered the torpedo boat threat with a new class of ship, the ‘torpedo boat destroyer’ whose guns were strong enough to drive off the new menace, but which had the speed and maneuverability as well, to engage them. This torpedo boat destroyer was built with little or no armor, so it could achieve these goals, but were large enough that they had the endurance and sea-keeping ability to escort the big battleships anywhere they had to go. They could also easily be adapted to counter another new threat, the submarine. And when naval aviation became a problem, the new TPDs could also be fitted out with anti-aircraft weapons, they could be used to lay mines, smokescreens, and perform other tasks such as scouts, pickets, fast raiders as well as carry their own torpedoes to deal with enemy battlewagons.

The torpedo boat destroyer soon came to be called simply ‘destroyer’ and the new class soon began to take over many of the roles formerly held by cruisers and other major ships, a cheap and expendable vessel not to be included in the battleline but in a variety of supporting roles.

Today, the battleship has disappeared from modern navies, and its smaller escorts (such as cruisers, in their many variations) are also disappearing and the destroyer has become the major surface combatant. Today, destroyers are all-purpose ships capable of carrying out a variety of combat roles, as well as the escort function for larger vessels such as aircraft carriers. The destroyer class is also appearing in a variety of specialized roles, such as anti-aircraft, submarine defense, convoy duty, blockade enforcement, shore bombardment and even radar picket. Today, destroyers can be small, very large (and expensive) and serve the world’s navies under a variety of different names assigned to different missions (corvette, frigate, destroyer leader). The cheap, disposable destroyer has become a bloated and expensive unit either hopelessly over-specialized, or so tasked with multiple missions it cannot accomplish any one of them effectively. Destroyers now are as big as WWII cruisers and can cost well over a Gigabuck. So much for expendable.

A major naval war has not been fought in a long time, and as usual, when one finally comes along naval planners will quickly learn all their speculation and theory will quickly become obsolete once the shooting starts.

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