Wednesday, September 3, 2014

PODA weapons devolution 11


PODA WEAPONS DEVOLUTION 11

NAVIES

I’m not a huge fan of naval warfare, study-wise.  There was a very good reason I never seriously entertained notions of joining the Navy.  His name is Jaws.  On land, there is dangers aplenty, but they don’t include being burned, then nearly drowned, then eaten by sharks.  I like my surfaces under my feet to remain steady except for the occasional earthquake.   Of course, there isn’t a whole lot to learn, either.  The navy that controls the oceans controls its trade, and that always brings more to a nation than what it costs to float the ships and run them.  Unless that nation is broke and then it is game over even if it still looks like they control things.  All I’ll say about that is that the US Navy is losing ships at the same time we need to control the seas to get the 60% of our daily oil use we need, which is imported,  not only to function financially but to eat ( the other percentage is overland from Canada, or close enough offshore to be safe ).  Naval power is economic power.  In the near enough future ( after oil production constricts enough and it WILL contract much faster on the down side than the ascendant side as back then we were discovering new uses for oil whereas now it all depends on the substance ) navies will be unable to operate on a nation state scale due to all the same issues effecting other heavy weapons.  Navies will cease as a global presence and float, if at all, as very scant shadows of their former selves.

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More than likely, only sail will power future ships.  And likely, the massive ship of war with row of cannon will no longer be viable.  You still need naval power- if for nothing else defense- but ramming, boarding and high above the mast sniping should be the main weapons.  And ships will just be a way of getting land soldiers to distant lands, just as the Vikings did.  As with armies, navies will shrink and go back to muscle power conflict, with marginal aid from Mother Nature and chemistry.  Most likely, envision offensive action as resembling modern piracy in the Caribbean ( insofar as full time sailing is concerned- divorced from the part time Viking transport type ).  And the defense for that more of the same but with more manpower.  If it exists.  I can easily envision local port tax collectors to insist on their cut without actually offering to pay for protection to get there.  If that is the case, then we revert to a free for all on the sea as pirates are mercenaries for other government entities ( Letter Of Marquee ) or just out for themselves and water transport protection becomes the private expense of ship captains and his financial backers ( which is most likely getting ahead of ourselves by a century or two- without a strong enough government on land to assure trade there, there is no surplus wealth to finance any ship expeditions ).

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9 comments:

  1. Dear Oracle of Elko!, I have been gone for awhile and have just now hunted down your latest efforts. I would miss coffee and sugar and an occasion slice of pineapple but other than that I am ready for giant ships full of crap being unloaded at our ports to cease. Everyone would be better off with less. To much "granite counter tops" and "stainless steel appliances". "hard wood floors" and a 3 thousand square foot "master bedroom" with a equally large walk in closet and a bathroom the size of the house I grew up in! Americans have become soft. Let the collapse come and let's hurry up already! Some beans by the campfire sounds good to me. Don't know much about the navy. Apparently we have sufficient aircraft carriers to still dominate the world's oceans. Hell, who cares. World would be better off going back to pack mules. No self parking, air bags, gps, anti lock brakes, climate control and all the rest of that crap. I like mules. good critters. Hey, just the old rat checking to see if they have locked you up yet! ha ha ha later Jim!

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  2. Living in the desert, i'd probably concentrate more on land warfare myself.

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  3. Still nuclear powered vessels out there.

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    1. No doubt they can stay afloat for some time. Alas, ammo? What purpose except perhaps putting Marines ashore?

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  4. Sea going will continue on as long as modern ships can float. Modern sailboats and yachts outfitted for long cruises can easily become retreats for those aboard- until the pirates heave over the horizon. Guns, Catapults, Balista and Molotovs will be the future defenses of these stateless islands. Personally. I think a nice mega yacht outfitted for extremely extended voyaging (solar powered, water purifier, sail propelled, on board greenhouse), on INLAND waters (say a large lake or river ) would be the best mobile Bug Out vehicle/location combo imaginable. If I win the lotto, that's where some of the extra money will go.
    But from experience I can tell you that the fiberglass/foam boats build over the last 50 years are easily kept afloat, it is purely an issue of propulsion and accessories that would take them off the water any time in the next 50 years. You may have seen videos and movies where a modern boat gets cut in half and keeps floating in two separate halves - that's more or less true.
    If you've got the $ a sail boat can be as good as a travel trailer to live in- perhaps better as marine accessory shops expect people to be unhooked from the grid for an indefinitely long time and use ways other than a septic to get rid of their waste... Fishermen and part time salvagers/pirates will be runnin on the waves in boats just like todays, just with faded paint and oars for power.

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    1. Jaws can't get you on the top of a mountain. Unless we have a "shark-namy".

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    2. So, take your long cruise sail boat onto a lake at the top of a mountain. You might wreck the trailer getting it there, but who cares? Your place now has an instant moat. Moore in a private hidden cove yards away from the shore, and your only real threat at that point would be a hidden sniper.

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