# Australian sub sinks US warship **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706 "2008-07-25T04:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/1 "2008-07-25T04:47:10Z")
[First one we’ve taken out since](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/aussie-sub-sinks-us-ship-a-hrefhttpmediafairfaxcomaurid39871bvideoba/2008/07/25/1216492690969.html) the [Frank E Evans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Frank_E._Evans_(DD-754)). ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Eyed_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/2 "2008-07-25T04:54:20Z")
Saw that on BBC world news tonight. Said the Australians sank a decommissioned American ship. I said to my wife, “I wonder if they told the Americans” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/3 "2008-07-25T04:56:30Z")
South Koreans sunk [my dad’s ship](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oklahoma_City_(CLG-5)). ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/4 "2008-07-25T05:01:46Z")
Three numbers on the hull. That likely makes it a _Spruance_-Class destroyer, since the Navy has been getting rid of them recently. I wonder which one it was. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/5 "2008-07-25T05:17:23Z")
Ahem. It’s hard work being this good. [ > [@](#): > > On 17 June 2008, the ex-USS David R. Ray was towed by fleet tug to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where she was to be sunk as a target as part of the annual RIMPAC exercises. ex-David R. Ray was sunk during RIMPAC 2008 on July 11, 2008 by a Mk 48 Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System torpedo fired by the Australian submarine HMAS Waller. ]([USS David R. Ray - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_David_R._Ray_%28DD-971%29#Fate)) So, it was a _Spruance_-class, the _David R. Ray_, DD-971. Am I good or what? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/6 "2008-07-25T05:39:05Z")
Damn it, you guys got me all excited about the USA being able to retaliate and attack Australia. There go my hopes of forcing them to drive on the right side of the road, then go and get in an epic battle with Mad Max, and then me settling in a little beach cottage on the Gold Coast. Of course, we would end up getting stuck in a years long boondoggle because Mel Gibson is not going to be giving up easily. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/7 "2008-07-25T13:16:14Z")
This is more of a GQ, but anyway. . . I thought that modern torpedo usage was more toward exploding under the ship and causing it to crack into two pieces. This looks more like a direct hit. Obviously, still not a good thing for the ship. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/8 "2008-07-25T13:33:05Z")
Anyone wanting to see some video of the sinkex, here’s a [site](http://lowcountry-listening-post.blogspot.com/2008/07/rimpac-08-sinkex-videos.html) with video of the fish going home, and then the last plunge of the _Ray_. [This video](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1541935/a_torpedo_hits_a_decomissioned_u_s_navy_ship_during_rimpac_08/) of the fish hitting the _Ray_ is slightly higher resolution. Either way, it sure looks like that torp broke her keel, as well as knocking down the after mast. Can anyone find how long it took for the _Ray_ to sink after being hit? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/9 "2008-07-25T14:03:05Z")
These things are always bizarre for me to watch - I had friends on the _David R. Ray_ and I had to visit her quite a bit to exchange supplies and the like. Additionally, I deployed for six months on another Spruance-class destroyer, the _Moosbrugger_. [This is the last picture I could find of the Moose.](http://www.pbase.com/pinemikey/image/65909257) She’s moored at the shipbreakers in Brownsville ready to be turned into razor blades. Frankly, I’d prefer to have these ships sold to foreign navies or sunk in exercises. It seems nobler to me. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/10 "2008-07-25T14:29:28Z")
One additional comment - it seems that the major improvement that the torpedo used in the sinkex had was improved acoustic detection and tracking for dealing with the multiple returns from SONAR when used in shallow waters. With that being the case, doesn’t it seem a little odd to be doing the sinkex off Hawaii? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/11 "2008-07-25T14:51:48Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] This is more of a GQ, but anyway. . . I thought that modern torpedo usage was more toward exploding under the ship and causing it to crack into two pieces. This looks more like a direct hit. Obviously, still not a good thing for the ship. [/QUOTE] Not sure. It seemed to me in the video that you could clearly see her back being broken very early in the sequence of events. The fore and aft sections of the ship seemed to suddenly move independently of one another with the blast. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/12 "2008-07-25T15:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Damn it, you guys got me all excited about the USA being able to retaliate and attack Australia. There go my hopes of forcing them to drive on the right side of the road, then go and get in an epic battle with Mad Max, and then me settling in a little beach cottage on the Gold Coast. Of course, we would end up getting stuck in a years long boondoggle because Mel Gibson is not going to be giving up easily. [/QUOTE] We’ll have to be content with Canada for now. They, at least, have oil. I’m not quite ready to have a war for wombats. But soon… Oh yes, soon. Sell us Fosters, will you? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/13 "2008-07-25T15:09:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] We’ll have to be content with Canada for now. They, at least, have oil. I’m not quite ready to have a war for wombats. But soon… Oh yes, soon. Sell us Fosters, will you? [/QUOTE] You would be unleashing a fearful coalition against you, my friend. With our wombats, NZ’s rowboat, and Canada’s moose-hurling ballista, we are ready to kick some US arse, lemme tell ya. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/14 "2008-07-25T15:39:26Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] You would be unleashing a fearful coalition against you, my friend. With our wombats, NZ’s rowboat, and Canada’s moose-hurling ballista, we are ready to kick some US arse, lemme tell ya. 😃 [/QUOTE] Not to mention the New Zealand All Black\* Rugby team performing the haka. With them on your side, you can’t lose. - “All Black” refers to the colour of the uniform – they do allow [Pakeha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81keh%C4%81) players on the team. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-sub-sinks-us-warship/457706/15 "2008-07-25T16:49:45Z")
As soon as our military perfects our intercontinental ballistic koala defense system, we will strike. There’s a stingray joke in here somewhere, but I might have _just_ enough class to skip it.