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Pr oceedings of t he 12 t h I nt er nat ional Conf er ence on t he St abilit y of
Ships and Ocean Vehicles, 14-18 J une 2015, Glasgow, UK,
1
An overview of warships damage data
from 1967 to 2013
Andrea Ungaro, CETENA spa, Genoa, ITALY
[email protected]
Paola Gualeni, DITEN University of Genoa, ITALY
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
In the last decade, in the field of merchant ships, a long harmonization process has taken place at
IMO, resulting in the enforcement of the so called probabilistic SOLAS2009 for the residual
buoyancy and stability assessment of a ship in a damaged condition.
In the warships design process, the probabilistic methodology might represent a consistent
approach to complement the fundamental overall ship survivability assessment. Nevertheless
among the most critical issues, while discussing the possible implementation of this innovative
approach, are the lack of a damage database and the significantly different threat typology.
In this perspective, significant damage cases in the field of warships are investigated and
critically analyzed. The observed time period will regard the period from 1967 (sinking of the Eilat)
to 2013.
Keywords: warships, damage, survivability assessment
1.
INTRODUCTION
In the field of merchant ships, the rules for
stability assessment of a damaged ship have
been renewed a few years ago by the
International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The new requirements are based on the
probabilistic approach and represent a
significant change in one of the most longestablished safety issues i.e. the ship
subdivision criteria.
They are the result of a prolonged process
having its roots in the sixties (IMO, 1960) and
passing by the adoption of the mandatory
probabilistic regulation for cargo ships (IMO,
1990). An harmonization process has
subsequently originated, leading to a
comprehensive SOLAS Convention text for
both passenger and cargo ships that has been
enforced from January 1st 2009 (IMO, 2007),
the reason why in the following it is going to
be mentioned as SOLAS2009.
This paper is developed in the perspective
that the probabilistic approach might represent
an interesting hint also within the warship
design context (Harmsen & Krikke, 2000;
Papanikolaou & Boulougouris, 2000). In fact,
in principle, it is particularly suitable to address
the vulnerability characteristics of the ship in
terms of survivability after damage and it can
be exploited also in terms of risk assessment,
for the discussion of ship survival attitude after
damage due to a weapon hit (Boulougouris &
Papanikolaou, 2012).
At the same time, some critical points can
be raised, for example in relation with the
totally different context in terms of threat and
operational situations.
Moreover the lack of a rational and
comprehensive damage database is another
fundamental issue in order to define the
statistical characteristics of hull damages.
2.
PRESENT CRITERIA FOR THE
DAMAGED SHIP: NAVAL AND
MERCHANT FIELD
At present, major Navies in the world apply
the so called “determistic” approach for the
design and assessment of the appropriate ship
subdivision, derived from the World War II
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experience and form the Sarchin and Goldberg
studies (1962).
Damaged stability criteria are based on
standard extents of damage, margin line and Vline concepts for buoyancy assessment and
progressive flooding prevention; for the
residual stability assessment, criteria are
developed processing the righting arm
characteristics in comparison with standard.
A remarkable overview about the current
warship damaged stability criteria is given in
Surko (1994), where a compared analysis is
carried out among the deterministic criteria
applied by Canada, France, Germany, Israel,
Italy, United Kingdom, United States,
Australia. In the same paper many interesting
hints for improvement are suggested for
example the need to treat the survivability and
the damage control as a single issue in the 21st
century. The same author raise the attention
toward the residual strength after damage, in a
comprehensive
performance
assessment
perspective (Surko, 1988).
In the field of merchant ships, before the
SOLAS2009 enforcement the “deterministic”
approach was the general SOLAS damage
stability paradigm. At present, the traditional
set of rules has been replaced by the
probabilistic approach that in principle can be
described as a rational, comprehensive and able
to deliver a synthetic final score parameter,
representative
of
the
damaged
ship
survivability global attitude. Furthermore it has
the characteristic of being a versatile
instrument, able to deal with innovative and
peculiar ship typologies.
Notwithstanding many positive conceptual
features, its implementation in actual design
poses a number of problems. In general, among
the less encouraging features, is the extremely
long, elaborate and intricate procedure it
requires (only the significant increase and
availability of cheap calculation power have
practically allowed the introduction of this new
methodology). At the same time, a critical
aspect is represented by the feeble chance to
appreciate intuitively the effects of even a light
modification in the ship general layout in terms
of damage stability compliance. This in turn
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could mean that in case the investigated ship
doesn’t satisfy the requirements, the designer’s
options to improve the situation are not so clear
and straightforward.
3.
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR
PROBABILISTIC APPROACH
TRANSFERABILITY FROM
MERCHANT TO WARSHIP DESIGN
A very short and not exhaustive description
of the SOLAS 2009 probabilistic methodology
is given in the following. The methodology is
based on a
calculation of the attained
subdivision index A and the required
subdivision index R. The ship is sufficiently
subdivided when
A > R, R = R(LS , N 1 , N 2 ) (1)
In particular coefficient R, besides its
dependence on the ship length (LS), is defined
as a function of the number of people for whom
lifeboats are provided (N1) and of the number
of people (including officers and crew) the ship
is permitted to carry in excess of N1.
The formulation of the attained coefficient
A is more complex, it is obtained after relevant
calculations for three different draughts: the
deepest subdivision draught (ds, the waterline
which corresponds to the summer load line),
the light service draught (dl, related with the
lightest loading condition of the vessel) and the
partial subdivision draught (dp, the light
service draught plus 60% of the difference
between the light service draught and the
deepest subdivision draught). For each of the
aforementioned calculation draughts ds, dp and
dl, partial indices respectively As, Ap, Al, are
to be found. The global attained coefficient A is
calculated as the linear combination of the
partial subdivision indices at each defined
draught:
A = 0.4 As + 0.4 Ap + 0.2 Al
(2)
Every partial index As, Ap, Al is the
summation of the products of two parameters
(pi and si) representing respectively, the
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probability that only the compartment or group
of compartments under consideration may be
flooded pi, (disregarding any horizontal
subdivision) and the probability of survival si
after flooding of the compartment or group of
compartments under consideration, (including
the effect of any horizontal subdivision). Each
partial index Aj is therefore calculated as
follows:
(3)
A j = [∑i pi s i ] j
The formulation of the pi coefficients is
based on the damage length and on its
longitudinal position along the ship. As a
matter of fact when dealing with a certain zone
within two transversal bulkheads it is possible
to take into account different transversal
damage penetrations, correcting pi by the ri
coefficient, that accounts for the probability not
to damage the longitudinal bulkhead.
The si, parameter the survivability index, is
calculated with reference to the residual
buoyancy and stability characteristics of the
ship after damage and accounts also for
intermediate stages of flooding and external
heeling moments such as wind, movement of
passengers and launch of a survival craft.
Moreover the survivability index coefficient
can be corrected by the factor vi in case the
horizontal watertight boundaries are fitted
above the waterline under consideration and
they are limiting superiorly the damage: the vi
factor in fact, represents the probability that the
spaces above the horizontal subdivision will
not be flooded. The attended index A takes
therefore the following form,
A j = [∑i ( pi
ri )
(v
i
si )] j
(4)
In order to avoid that global index A is
attained also in case of extremely unbalanced
situations some corollary requirements have
been introduced: for passenger ships,
prescriptions on the si values are imposed
regarding some specific damage scenarios
defined in terms of position and extensions,
depending on the number of passengers
onboard. Moreover a minimum value of for
partial As, Ap, Al indices is imposed (at least
3
0.5•R for cargo ships and 0.9•R for passengers
ships).
To discuss the opportunity of the
probabilistic approach application in the field
of warship design it is worth mentioning that
“survivability” in such cases is a very wide
concept and also includes the concepts of
vulnerability and susceptibility (Ball &
Calvano, 1994).
The possible application, moreover, would
imply an extensive work of re-formulation of
the probabilistic parameters characterizing the
damage scenario probability and of the
survivability index.
In fact, one of the biggest issues for the
probabilistic approach application in the
warship field is the redefinition of coefficients
exploited in the methodology. In this process it
would be necessary to take into account the
different environmental, operational scenarios
and the boundary conditions the naval ship has
to operate in.
Two points should be properly considered:
the first one is the different performances
required after damage and the second is the
origin and nature of the damage.
The ship performances after damage
should be tackled through the definition of a
new si
survivability factor within the
probabilistic methodology.
The nature of the damage should be
introduced with the definition of damage
probability factors i.e. pi, ri, vi, respectively
representing the longitudinal transverse and
vertical extents of damage.
The occurrence of a damage has different
features in case of a merchant ship or a naval
ship: in general the first suffers damage due to
collision and grounding while the second
suffers damage due to offensive /aggressive
threats (weapons) put in act to destroy the ship
herself and characterized by more devastating
effects.
Moreover a new definition of the required
index R is necessary, since in the SOLAS 2009
it has a statistical origin too; the harmonized
SOLAS has been applied to several ships
which complied with the old deterministic rules
and their attained indexes A have been
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Pr oceedings of t he 12 t h I nt er nat ional Conf er ence on t he St abilit y of
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calculated. The index R has been defined by
means of a regression of such set of values
with the aim to keep an equivalent level of
safety. A similar approach should be followed
with a proper set of naval ships to define its
naval formulation.
From what above, the critical points for
probabilistic approach transferability to navy
ships are summarized below:
§ Definition of suitable probabilistic terms
to evaluate damage extensions statistics
and damage effects
§ Definition of survivability index
§ Definition of a new R factor, i.e. the level
of sufficient subdivision
Unfortunately a database of damage cases
for ships in the military context with all the
necessary data for a statistical analysis is not
available.
In the following paragraph an overview
about the damage scenario of warships in the
latest decades is carried out; the aim is to
investigate what kind of framework and
information would be useful in the perspective
of a possible probabilistic approach for damage
stability assessment for warship design. A
special attention is given also to the threat
typology as a fundamental parameter to class
the damage size and typology.
4.
A TAXONOMY FOR A WARSHIP
DAMAGE DATA OVERVIEW
Year 1967 marks a breakthrough in naval
warfare, specifically the sinking of INS Eilat
by means of guided ship-launched anti-ship
missiles (ASMs) a few months after the SixDay War.
Guided weapons had already been used
during the Second World War: the German
Luftwaffe used several kinds of remotelycontrolled glide bombs, such as the Henschel
Hs293 and the so-called “Fritz-X”; two hits
from the latter in fact sunk the RN Roma in
1944. All of these weapons were however
dropped by a bomber and usually controlled
via radio signals by an operator within visual
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range, following the smoke trail left by the
bomb to help steering.
When INS Eilat was sunk in October 21st,
1967, the three hits were by P-15 Termit
(NATO name: SS-N-2 Styx) missiles, fired
from two Komar-class missile boats, carrying
their own radar sensors, and attacking well
outside visual range (17 nm as reported).
From 1967 to 2013, 45 hits by guided antiship missiles, both surface- and aircraftlaunched, have been suffered by naval ships.
Of these hits, 16 concerned 9 different naval
ships with a displacement larger than 1000 t
(corvette-sized or bigger) and are therefore
interesting for our study; hits on smaller ships
are less interesting because smaller platforms
can hardly survive missile impacts. In those
cases, specific details are also hard to come by
(the ship, typically a missile boat, is usually
listed as “sunk”, without other information).
Of these 16 hits, 6 were by P-15 Termit (3
of those during the Eilat attack and 3 during
Operation Trident), 4 by some versions of the
Exocet, 3 by Harpoon missiles, 2 by Sea
Sparrow missiles (a “blue-on-blue” incident)
and 1 by a YJ-82. 4 out of 9 of the hit ships
were sunk. In 7 cases out of 9, the ships were
clearly mission-killed, i.e. lost the capability to
carry out their operational tasking.
In 6 out of 9 ships, and in 3 out of 4 ships
being sunk, fire is mentioned as a significant
damage mechanism; specifically, HMS
Sheffield and IRS Sahand were lost due to
incontrollable fires, even though the first one
eventually sunk due to flooding and the second
due to secondary ammunition explosions. INS
Eilat on the other hand suffered a complete loss
of integrity of the hull girder (i.e. “broke in
two”) after the third hit whereas the fate of
PNS Khaibar was probably caused by
extensive flooding.
Note that this statistic doesn’t include nonnaval ships (several oil carriers were hit by
ASMs during the so-called Tanker War, for
example) and doesn’t include merchant ships in
military use such as the Atlantic Conveyor,
which despite being a container ship was in
military use during the 1982 Falklands War,
and the Venus Challenger, which was
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reportedly carrying ammunition (this is
contested) when sunk during the 1971
Operation Trident.
In the same historical period, 15 ships
larger than 1000 t sustained hits from weapons
other than guided missiles: 3 were torpedoed, 8
were hit by bombs, 3 struck a mine and 1 was
struck by a suicide boat. One of the ships hit by
bombs (IIS Sahand) was also hit by missiles,
and therefore our list below is composed of 23
entries rather than 24.
The three ships that were hit by torpedoes
all sunk, in a quite short time frame and with
large loss of life.
The three ships that were hit by mines
received severe damage and were missionkilled in two cases, whereas USS Tripoli,
undoubtedly also due to her large displacement,
remained mission-capable. Casualties were
low.
USS Cole, struck by a suicide boat, was
certainly unable to continue her mission, and
was ultimately drydocked and brought back to
the US for repairs.
Finally, the 8 ships that were struck by
bombs: 3 were hit by multiple bombs and sunk
(HMS Ardent during defusing operations); 3
were struck by unexploding bombs only and
survived (HMS Argonaut suffered a partial
missile magazine explosion and fire and had to
be towed away); 1 was struck by a single bomb
and lost propulsion but survived (IIS Sabalan)
and 1 was struck by multiple bombs and
missiles and sunk (IIS Sahand).
In 4 out of 5 cases of ships struck by bombs
which exploded successfully, and in 1 case out
of 3 of unexploded bomb hits only, fire is
mentioned as a significant factor. Only HMS
Coventry was lost mainly due to loss of
stability.
The following review goes into some detail,
as available from unclassified or de-classified
sources, about the damage sustained by the
ships as listed in table 1.
It appears evident that the definition of
damage as described in the SOLAS2009 (i.e. in
terms of longitudinal, transverse and vertical
extension) is not commonly available, and that
the damage is usually described in terms of
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source (i.e. kind of weapon) and effects (i.e.
residual buoyancy, total loss, fire, fatalities).
INS Eilat (1967)
INS Eilat (ex HMS Zealous) was a WWII
Z-class destroyer with a displacement of about
1700 t. She received three hits (sources report
anything from 2 to 4 hits), all by P-15 Termit
missiles (carrying 454 kg warheads), which
sunk her.
Reports are unclear on the location of the
hits but it’s clear that after the two first hits the
ship was dead in the water (boiler rooms out of
order) and with severe structural damage; some
sources report one hit very close to the
waterline (and therefore flooding) and fire is
reported as well.
The ship was still floating when two hours
later the third hit finished her by splitting the
already damaged hull into two parts. Further
underwater damage from a near-miss by a 4th
missile was reported (the ship was attacked by
two Osa missile boats carrying two missiles
each).
PNS Khaibar (1971)
PNS Khaibar (ex HMS Cadiz) was a WWII
Battle class destroyer with a displacement of
about 2300 t standard (3300 full load). She
received two hits by P-15 Termit missiles
which sunk her (Harry, 2002).
The first hit was on the starboard side, low
on the water; propulsion and electrical power
were lost (possibly due to shock?) Boiler room
1 was lost and the ship was engulfed in thick
black smoke, with spreading fires reported. The
second subsequent hit was on the same side
and destroyed boiler room 2 as well as some
boats, causing an heavy list. The ship sunk
shortly thereafter.
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Name
Year
Country
Weapons
Final status
INS Eilat
1967
Israel
3 x P-15 Termit
Sunk
PNS Khaibar
1971
Pakistan
2 x P-15 Termit
Sunk
PNS Shah Jahan
1971
Pakistan
1 x P-15 Termit
Unknown, did not sink
INS Khukri
1971
India
1 x 550-mm torpedo
Sunk
ARA General Belgrano
1982
Argentina
2 x Mk 8 torpedo
Sunk
HMS Sheffield
1982
UK
1 x Exocet (did not explode)
Sunk
HMS Ardent
1982
UK
Multiple aircraft bombs
Sunk
HMS Antelope
1982
UK
2 aircraft bombs
Sunk during defusing
operations
HMS Coventry
1982
UK
Multiple aircraft bombs
Sunk
HMS Broadsword
1982
UK
1 unexploded bomb
Mission capable
HMS Argonaut
1982
UK
2 unexploded bombs
Towed away
HMS Antrim
1982
UK
1 unexploded bomb
Unknown
HMS Glamorgan
1982
UK
1 x Exocet
Mission capable after
damage recovery
USS Stark
1987
USA
2 x Exocet (1 did not explode)
Severe damage, mantained
propulsion
USS Samuel B.
Roberts
1988
USA
1 x M-08 contact mine
Severe damage, reduced
propulsion
IIS Sahand
1988
Iran
3 x Harpoon, 2 x CBU, 2 x LGB
Sunk
IIS Sabalan
1988
Iran
1 x LGB
Severe damage, towed
away
USS Tripoli
1991
USA
1 x LUGM-145 contact mine
Mission capable after
damage recovery
USS Princeton
1991
USA
1 x MN-103 influence mine
Severe damage, towed
away
TCG Muavenet
1992
Turkey
2 x Sea Sparrow
Crippled by loss of staff
USS Cole
1999
USA
1 x suicide boat
Severe damage, drydocked
INS Hanit
2006
Israel
1 x YJ-82 missile
Moved away from the area
ROKS Cheonan
2010
South Korea
1 x unknown torpedo
Sunk
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Table 1: List of the analyzed ships with some summarized details
PNS Shah Jahan (1971)
PNS Shah Jahan (ex HMS Charity) was a
C-class destroyer with a displacement of about
2500 t. She received one hit by a P-15 Termit
missile.
Not much is known about this attack,
except that the ship did not sunk but was
eventually scrapped due to the extensive
damage.
INS Khukri (1971)
INS Khukri was a Type 14 (Blackwoodclass) frigate with a displacement of about
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1450 t (full load). She received one hit by a
550-mm torpedo which sunk her.
According to open literature accounts, the
torpedo hit “exploded under the oil tanks”. This
apparent fact, taken together with the small
displacement of the ship, explains the
reportedly quick sinking of the ship and
proportionally large loss of life.
ARA General Belgrano (1982)
ARA General Belgrano was a WWII
Brooklyn-class
light
cruiser
with
a
displacement of about 12200 t at full load. She
was hit by two Mk 8 torpedoes which sunk her,
earning her the dubious distinction of being the
first and only ship to be killed by a nuclear
submarine in history.
The torpedoes hitting the Belgrano had a
363 kg warhead. The first hit came very close
to the bow, outside both the armored belt and
the anti-torpedo bulge, and blew it up; the
damage was however ultimately very small as
the ship water integrity was preserved.
The second hit was sustained aft, again
outside the armored area, and proved
catastrophic: the aft machinery room and two
mess rooms were immolated causing about 275
casualties, and subsequently the explosion
vented through the main deck.
The ship very quickly filled with smoke.
Electrical power was lost due to the explosion
and the list that the ship soon developed could
not be countered by pumping. Twenty minutes
later the order to abandon ship was given and
she eventually slipped beneath the waves.
HMS Sheffield (1982)
HMS Sheffield was a Type 42 destroyer
with a displacement of about 4800 t. She
received one hit by an Exocet which sunk her.
This is probably the missile attack that has
been discussed most in the brief history of
naval missile combat. According to the official
RN account (UK-MOD 1982a) Sheffield
sustained the hit on her second deck, 2.4 meters
above the waterline. Immediate damage
included the control room, fire main, forward
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auxiliary and machinery room being lost. Fire
spread and could not be fought due to heavy
smoke and no fire main, so eventually the ship
was abandoned. Sheffield then sunk during
towing due to flooding through the side hole,
but fire (and smoke) was definitely the primary
damage mechanism in this attack.
It is significant that the missile with its 165
kg warhead did not detonate, according to
official statements, though this is contested by
some.
Figure 1: HMS Sheffield on fire after the
Exocet hit
(photo credit: UK MoD - believed to be in the
public domain)
HMS Ardent (1982)
HMS Ardent was a Type 21 frigate with a
displacement of about 3200 t. She received
several bomb hits which sunk her (UK-MOD
1983).
Ardent was hit by several waves of air
attacks.
The first three hits were sustained in the
hangar (two weapons) and aft auxiliary
machinery room (one weapon, which failed to
explode but caused significant damage
nonetheless by destroying a switchboard which
left, among other things, the main gun
inoperative). The hangar hits destroyed the
helicopter and a missile launcher, as well as
started a large fire and caused significant crew
casualties.
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A subsequent wave of attackers hit the ship
in the aft area with an unknown number of
weapons, estimates range from two to four
bombs. There are reports of more weapon
hitting the ship at the same time but failing to
explode, which was fairly common due to the
low altitude the attacks were performed at.
These attacks caused many casualties and the
ship lost steering as well. Fires aft grew out of
control and a list was developed from flooding
due to underwater explosions of near misses.
The ship was abandoned and sunk about 12
hours later.
According to Argentine sources both Mk 83
(450 kg) and Mk 82 (230 kg) bombs were used,
in the normal and retarded type.
HMS Antelope (1982)
HMS Antelope was a Type 21 frigate with
a displacement of about 3200 t. She was sunk
when the defusing attempts on two bombs that
she had received failed (UK-MOD, 1982b).
Antelope sustained two bomb hits, the first
in the starboard side, the second close to the
main mast, from an aircraft that crashed
through it. No one of the bombs exploded.
Defusing attempts on the aft bomb failed
and the ship was torn open from waterline to
funnel. Major fires were started in both engine
rooms. Electrical power was lost and the
starboard fire main was fractured as well,
making fire fighting all but impossible.
The ship was abandoned and shortly
thereafter missile magazines began exploding.
The ship was still afloat, her keel broken and
her substructure all but melted, the following
day, but eventually sunk after breaking in half.
HMS Coventry (1982)
HMS Coventry was a Type 42 destroyer
with a displacement of about 4800 t. She
received four hits by bombs, two of which
exploded, and eventually sunk.
Coventry was hit a first time on her flight
deck by a 450-kg bomb which destroyed her
helicopter but did not explode. Then, she was
hit by three 225-kg bombs on her port side, just
8
above the waterline: two of the bombs
exploded, one putting the computer room and
most of the senior staff out of commission; the
second in the forward engine room. The latter
hit destroyed the bulkhead separating the two
engine rooms, causing an incontrollable
flooding (the ship could survive two
compartments being flooded but not the two
engine rooms as they were too large).
The ship capsized in about twenty minutes
and sunk shortly thereafter.
HMS Broadsword (1982)
HMS Broadsword was a Type 22 frigate
with a displacement of about 4400 t. She
received one hit by a bomb which did not
explode.
During the same action in which Coventry
was sunk, Broadsword was hit by a bomb of
unknown weight, which bounced on her flight
deck, destroying her helicopter (similarly to
Coventry) and then exploded harmlessly in the
water.
The ship remained mission capable (but for
the loss of her helicopter of course) and in fact
was instrumental in rescuing most of the crew
of Coventry.
HMS Argonaut (1982)
HMS Argonaut was a Leander-class frigate
with a displacement of about 3250 t at full
load. She received two hits by bombs which
did not explode.
HMS Argonaut was hit by two bombs
which did not explode; however, one of them
entered a missile magazine, detonating two
missiles and causing some casualties and a fire.
The ship moved away from the area under
tow, which suggests some internal damage for
which however documentation is lacking.
HMS Antrim (1982)
HMS Antrim was a County-class destroyer
with a displacement of about 6850 t at full
load. She received one hit by a bomb which did
not explode.
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HMS Antrim was hit by one 450-kg bomb
which did not explode.
Information is lacking about what damage,
if any, was caused by the impact.
HMS Glamorgan (1982)
HMS Glamorgan was a County class
destroyer with a displacement of about 5400 t
(6200 full load). She received one hit by an
Exocet which she survived despite some
extensive fire damage.
The hit was sustained on the port side of the
hangar deck, close to the Sea Cat launcher, and
deflected upwards (the ship was violently
maneuvering to present the stern to the
missile). The hangar deck was holed by the
explosion, fire spread in the galley below; the
missile body kept going and penetrated the
hangar, destroying the ship helicopter.
Eventually the crew managed to contain the
spread of fire but there was extensive damage
in the hangar area (Inskip, 2012). The ship was
definitely able to float, though there was some
list caused by the extensive quantity of water
used in firefighting, and moved away at high
speed soon after the attack; her fighting
capabilities are unclear, but her main sensors
were probably still active. The following day
however saw the ship in sheltered waters for
repairs. After the end of the war the ship
traveled back to the UK under her own power.
9
inside the ship, whereas the second hit is
estimated to have occurred about 1 m inside the
ship and vented some of its energy outside her.
Energic damage control carried out for
several hours with the help of nearby ships
managed to contain the spreading of fires and
saved the ship, which at a point had an
extensive list, reported as 15° (USN, 1987).
The ship eventually made it to Bahrain where
she sustained temporary repairs before
returning home.
While propulsion was maintained, it took a
while before the ship was able to move safely;
also, the Standard launcher was reportedly
down and the ship could not retaliate nor
defend herself (except with the CIWS) from
further attacks.
USS Samuel B. Roberts (1988)
USS Samuel B. Roberts was a Perry class
frigate with a displacement of about 4200 t
(full load). She sustained one hit by a contact
mine which caused extreme damage but did not
sink her.
USS Stark (1987)
USS Stark was a Perry class frigate with a
displacement of about 4200 t (full load). She
received two hits by Exocet missiles which she
survived despite significant, fire, flooding and
crew losses.
The ship received two hits in the same
location, on the port side close to the waterline
(more or less below the bridge); the first
missile did not detonate but started a fire, the
second exploded in crew quarters causing large
losses among the crew.
Official statements (USN, 1987) indicate
that the first hit was more damaging as a large
quantity of propellant was injected further
Figure 2: The damaged hull of USS Samuel B.
Roberts
(photo credit: PH2 Rudy D. Pahoyo - USN public domain)
Samuel B. Roberts struck an M-08 contact
mine with a nominal charge of about 115 kg
(Watts, 1991). Literature suggests however that
some of the mines encountered in the Persian
Gulf had a higher than normal charge in
exchange for flimsier chains, which could
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explain the fact that the mine was encountered
in a commercial shipping lane.
The hit broke the keel of the ship and blew
a 5 m hole in the hull, flooding the engine
room and knocking the two gas turbines from
their mounts; a large fire was also initiated.
Heroic damage control managed to contain the
damage and save the ship, which then moved
away under the power of her auxiliary thruster
and reportedly maintained (or quickly
regained) radar coverage and weapon
readiness; however her extreme structural
damage as well as her much reduced mobility
still qualifies this hit as a mission-kill.
IIS Sahand (1988)
IIS Sahand was a British-made Alvandclass 1500 t full load frigate that was sunk after
sustaining 3 Harpoon hits plus further hits by 2
cluster bombs and at least 2 laser guided
bombs.
It is reported that either of the first two
Harpoon shots (with a 220 kg warhead) hit the
superstructure in the command area, effectively
disabling the fighting capabilities of the ship;
further hits had the ship ablaze from bow to
stern, dead in the water and listing; eventually
the ship blew up when the flames reached her
ammunition magazines.
IIS Sabalan (1988)
IIS Sabalan was a British-made Alvandclass 1500 t full load frigate that was hit by 1
225-kg laser-guided bomb.
Sabalan sustained a hit by a Mark 82 bomb,
reportedly close to her exhaust stack, which
caused the ship to lose propulsion and set her
on fire. It was eventually towed back to port
and repaired. Not much more is known about
this event.
USS Tripoli (1991)
USS Tripoli was a Ivo Jima-class
amphibious assault ship with a displacement of
19300 t that was hit by a contact mine (USN
1992, Atkinson 1994).
10
Tripoli was hit on her starboard bow by an
LUGM-145 mine carrying about 145 kg of
explosives, the effect of the hit being magnified
by the close bottom. The explosion ripped a 5
by 7 m hole in the hull and caused damage
throughout the bow, including an artillery
magazine being flooded with JP5 kerosene and
water and a mixture of paint and thinner being
vaporized and filling part of the hull with its
toxic vapors.
Damage control managed to contain the
effects of the damage; the ship resumed
operations after 20 hours, remaining in the
combat area for several days until relieved,
though she was unable to deploy her minehunting helicopter due to the relevant fuel tanks
having been damaged by the hit.
USS Princeton (1991)
USS Princeton is a Ticonderoga-class
cruiser with a displacement of 9800 t at full
load. She was hit by two influence mines (USN
1992, Atkinson 1994).
Princeton was hit by the blast of an Italianmade MN-103 Manta, a bottom-mounted
influence mine, which exploded under the port
rudder; immediately thereafter a second mine
of the same type (probably in a sympathetic
detonation) exploded forward of the starboard
bow. The whipping induced by the detonations
caused the ship to suffer severe structural
damage.
The fantail nearly separated from the rest of
the ship. Cracks developed in the hull and in
the superstructure which was nearly divided in
two parts by a crack going completely through
its sides. The port rudder was jammed and the
starboard propeller shaft was damaged. A fire
main was damaged, flooding part of the ship
and shorting one of the main switchboards.
The AEGIS system was brought back
online in a short while and the forward
weapons were still operational, but the ship
could not be safely moved due to the severe
structural damage and eventually had to be
towed away, so as in the case of Samuel B.
Roberts this must be considered a mission-kill
as well.
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TCG Muavenet (1992)
TCG Muavenet (ex USS Gwin) was a mine
layer destroyer that was hit by two Sea
Sparrow missiles fired inadvertently by USS
Saratoga.
The missiles were meant for AA use and
therefore had smaller 40-kg warheads; however
the first hit destroyed the bridge and the CIC,
whereas the second struck the aft magazine but
did not detonate.
Damage control operations saved the ship
which was still capable of floating and moving,
but she had been effectively crippled due to the
loss of most of her bridge crew and command
rooms.
11
made it back to a safe port under her own
power; her fighting capabilities after the impact
remain however unknown.
ROKS Cheonan (2010)
ROKS Cheonan was a Pohang-class
corvette with a displacement of 1200 t which,
according to the official investigation, received
a single torpedo hit which sunk her.
The matter is contested, but what is clear is
that a medium-sized explosive charge,
estimated as 250 kg of TNT equivalent,
detonated just below the hull in the stern area,
somewhat off to port; the resulting bubble jet
broke the ship in half, separating the stern, and
the ship capsized and sunk in a very short time
frame.
USS Cole (1999)
USS Cole is an Arleigh Burke-class
destroyer with a displacement of 9000 t at full
load. She was hit by a suicide small boat on her
port side. It is estimated that 200-300 kg of
explosives, possibly formed in a shaped charge,
were used. The attack was probably the most
successful attempt at asymmetric warfare in the
post Cold War era and has influenced naval
thinking and design in recent times.
The hit opened an 18 by 12 m gash in the
ship at the waterline, driving two lower decks
upward toward the main deck and opening the
room containing the starboard main engine to
the sea. Fuel lines were ruptured and power
throughout the vessel went out as well.
Damage control took three days until the
situation was stabilized enough for the ship to
be towed and then dry-docked.
INS Hanit (2006)
INS Hanit is a Sa’ar 5 class corvette with a
displacement of 1300 t (full load) which
received a single hit by what has been reported
as a YJ-82 missile.
The hit was sustained in the stern area of
the ship; the explosion split the helo deck,
caused crew casualties and reportedly extensive
damage to propulsion. Despite this the ship
5.
CONCLUSIONS
At the base of this paper there is the opinion
that the SOLAS2009 probabilistic approach
might represent and interesting methodology to
be implemented in the warship survivability
assessment. After the indication of the main
critical points for the approach transferability
to the warship design process, attention is
given to the need of a consistent and
comprehensive investigation, about the
different damage scenario characteristics..
As an initial approach to the problem an
overview is carried out evidencing the
importance to discuss about the ship
characteristics, the kind of threat, the primary
effects (hull damage and flooding), the
secondary effects (for example fire or systems
failures) and the final evolution of the situation.
It appears evident that the damage size
description in terms of length, penetration and
height is not a straightforward activity and that
some further studies are necessary in the
perspective of a probabilistic approach,
SOLAS2009 like, the field of naval ship
assessment.
Actually
some
analytical
probability density function derived from
literature (Przemieniecki, 2000) able to
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describe the ship damage statistics are a more
suitable way to move forward.
The efficiency that the watertight
subdivision can express is of course in close
relation with the weapon overall power
intensity that in some occasions is really
devastating. To this regard, it might be more
interesting to focus on a possible optimization
of the ship subdivision considering the effect of
an asymmetric threat, characterized by a lower
power, but usually oriented to possibly offend a
sensitive part of the ship. However there is
growing attention to the assessment of a
warship performance not only to survive a
hostile damage, but also in relation with typical
merchant fleet accidents like collision and
grounding (Smith & Heywood, 2009) and in
this sense the possible application of the
probabilistic approach for the warship design
might find its exploitation.
6.
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