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Explosive experts: could you blow up a ship like this?

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  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Vancouver, the "wet coast"
Explosive experts: could you blow up a ship like this?
Posted by castelnuovo on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 9:49 PM

This is a clip from the movie Syriana, which I have seen long time ago. Then I happened to see this clip the other day and thought to ask if anybody understands how explosives may work in this situation.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3p96VNXSNQ
Now, just to say, I have a degree in marine engineering and my diploma work was on LNG carriers. Mind you, it was back in late 80s and I never had a chance to sail on LNGs. I am (was?) quite familiar with safety of these ships, but never considered an outside attack with what appears to be some kind of armor piercing weapon. There is a large space between the outer hull of the ship and the tanks in which the liquid cargo is. Could the explosion from the boat penetrate both hulls and ignite the cargo which is not flammable when in liquid state? Could enough LNG vapors form, mix with oxygen and ignite from the flame of the explosions? If I remember from long time ago, the space between the ship's hull and the LNG tanks is also filled with inert gas, so no burning/explosion.

Any thoughts?

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 11:38 PM

What is the typical thickness and hardness of the steel in the hull of these ship types? Most likely a shaped charge warhead will easily breach the hull. But then the distance between the outer hull and the LNG tanks will dissipate the shaped charge jet. And the warhead on a boat of that type does not have the momentum or rocket motor with any unused fuel of your typical anti ship missile that would overcome the distance issue.

So now let's say that the outer hull is breached majorly, and serious structural damage occurs to the immediate surrounding compartments and the closest LNG sphere. Once one sphere is breached, will the LNG escape and go back to a gaseous state where it becomes flammable again? 

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    January 2012
  • From: Barrie, Ontario
Posted by Cdn Colin on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 6:01 AM

That looked like a Stinger on the bow, which would have a fragmentation warhead, not shaped charge.  It also looked like the main charge on the boat went off about 8' from the side of the hull.  I imagine the blast would have damaged the hull, but I doubt it would have ignited the cargo.

Would a flash-bang grenade under a gas tank blow up a car?

I'm far from an expert in either case, just opining.

I build 1/48 scale WW2 fighters.

Have fun.

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • From: San Antonio, Texas
Posted by Marcus McBean on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 6:52 AM

During WWI the British air force thought a single fighter would easy shoot down a Zepplin using tracer ammo, but they where unseccessful with each attack.   Turned out that it took several airplanes to damage enough gas bags that the Zepplin could no longer stay airborne or the vapor/air ratio was finally met to set the ship on fire.  It took a lot of work of several fighters to bring one down, like lions bringing down a water buffalo.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 11:47 AM

I'd approach analyzing this scene with a skeptical mind, because it's a scene from a movie, and one that had political overtones, at that.  The production team might have worried more about how spectacular it was, than whether it was 100% accurate.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Scotland
Posted by Milairjunkie on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 2:19 PM

My initial thought was that it's just a complete load of movie tosh, but;

Substantial damage caused to USS Cole in Aden & the nearly new super tanker MV Linburg by similar means has me wondering (the MV Linburgs inner hull was breached);

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 5:03 PM

Right... tankers are not armored warships, so they will take some damage. But I doubt the charge that would be hand carried to such a fishing boat would not be likely to cause a catastrophic loss. Certainly not one apocalyptic blast. Think of the "tanker war" portion of the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s. The anti ship missiles used then which would have far better penetration and after blast effects due to any unused rocket motor fuel igniting ruptured fuel tanks would not instantaneously take down such a vessel.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Vancouver, the "wet coast"
Posted by castelnuovo on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 10:36 PM

stikpusher

What is the typical thickness and hardness of the steel in the hull of these ship types? Most likely a shaped charge warhead will easily breach the hull. But then the distance between the outer hull and the LNG tanks will dissipate the shaped charge jet. And the warhead on a boat of that type does not have the momentum or rocket motor with any unused fuel of your typical anti ship missile that would overcome the distance issue.

So now let's say that the outer hull is breached majorly, and serious structural damage occurs to the immediate surrounding compartments and the closest LNG sphere. Once one sphere is breached, will the LNG escape and go back to a gaseous state where it becomes flammable again?

The thickness of a hull is typically 1" and I think the sphere is similar. Don't know about the hardes but it is certainly not meant to be an armor protection a la military. If the liquid is released in the athmosphere, it will become gas, but as you know, the mixture of gas and O2 has to be just the right proportion. Also, the hull's side is often double, so now we have 3 layers that have to be penetrated.

So, the more I think of it, the more Hollywood it is Smile

 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 11:54 PM

There you have it. It's Hollywood and not a documentary. Compare the actual footage of the USS Arizona explosion at Pearl Harbor to the CGI version of that in the film "Pearl Harbor". Shall we say artistic license? It's all about the wow factor. 

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

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