You sank my battleship . . . with twice as much explosive as a ship eight times smaller

An unclassified Navy assessment called "Cruise missile warfare" described the relationship with the amount of explosives or missile hits too the size of the ship being disabled. Ship vulnerability is related to the cube root of displacement. This means a 100,000 ton displacement aircraft carrier needs to be hit with twice as much explosive to be sunk compared to a 12,500 ton ship. Displacement (volume) relates to length. So a ship 600 feet long needs twice as much explosive to be killed than a 300 feet long ship.

A Brookings Institute study found that one large warhead would incapacitate a 300 foot long ship and an additional warhead is needed for each additional 100 feet.




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