Kamakazis

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Alpha Von Burg

because I know that during the Pacific theater of war in WWII, sailors would pry to be on land after surviving kamakazi attacks and also that USS carrier St. Lo was hit litaraly by only one plane and it did a hell out of the Lo, this worries me because in RL one shell a fighter could criple the hull, now imagine what a whole planewould do to a U-Boat, but this also makes it more interesting...

One of the greatest fears a sailor has is a fire at sea, because contrary to popular belief a fire can easily burn hot enough to eat through steel. An aircraft carrier is full of aviation gasoline, which is specifically designed to burn a hot as possible, so a fire on board a carrier is a bigger problem than on any other ship. Also a carrier has a huge open hangar where the planes are stored and refueled. There is a constant wind running through the hangar due to some large openings in the sides that let in fresh air, as fumes from the fuel can make it hard to breath.

All of this together - special hot-burning fuel, a large open space with a breeze running through it to get ride of the fumes from the fuel - combine to make a prime place for a good uncontrollable fire. That's why carriers were favorite targets for kamikazes...and submarines.