[PAR35]

For 48 destroyer and cruiser-sized ship actually “hit” by ANY weapon of ANY type (armed, unarmed, dud, air blast, torpedo, missile, or simple cannon fire) ONE TIME, not ONE of those ships in ANY NAVY was able to continue combat.

Selective data set?

The USS Liberty was roughly destroyer sized. It took bombs, strafing and napalm, and still managed to engage the surface units that were attacking it. The defense was called off because while Israelis could attack the US, the US was not supposed to defend itself. In any event, the 'unable to continue combat' theory is refuted.

(Carefully?) Excluded from your sample would be smaller ships which also survived hits and continued in combat. See, for example, the frigate HMS Brilliant - hit by Argentine aircraft cannon fire, but able two days later to fire on an Argentine ship with her main gun.

Another British frigate, HMS Argunaut, didn't fare quite so well after taking a hit to the missile magazine. (Ship was hit by 2 1000 pound bombs; both were duds, but duds are covered by your assertions.) But she continued in combat by providing robust anti-aircraft fire against attacking planes.

I expect that if I did real research instead of just Googling from memory, I could come up with more examples.

So if we were to accept your narrowly drawn position as accurate, perhaps the lesson learned is that all destroyers and cruisers should be replaced with frigates and converted freighters.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Rigth.

now look at your answers.

Liberty ship. Able to survive. Kept sailing. Not much of a fighter (it was a very, very simple merchant vessel really) but that proves my point. it was NOT a destroyer.

Brit Brilliant?

Out of action for one day, then could fight back 2 days later. Didn’t get a second attack the next 30 minutes, did it?

Argonaut?

No missile battery. Cannononly available - but only after 4-6 hours of recovery after the dud hit.

The duds were inside their rocket magazine as you pointed out. Further, they DIDN’T even explode, and they put her out of action for several hours. What if the Argentine’s knew how to arm their fuzes?

Remember. The Victory, Monitor, and Merrimack could only shoot iron cannonballs too.

Which we conveniently didn’t tell them were going to dud-out their low-level bombs?

7 MORE Brit destroyers would be blown in half.

[Robert A Cook PE]

So if we were to accept your narrowly drawn position as accurate, perhaps the lesson learned is that all destroyers and cruisers should be replaced with frigates and converted freighters.

Yes.

A “stupid” 100,000 ton merchant vessel would be more survivable. Remember those billion dollar “warships” meekly trailing behind their “convoy” of tankers that were going through the minefields first?

[Oztrich Boy]

Vietnam 17 June 1968, HMAS Hobart (Adams class DDG) hit by three Sparrow missiles fired by aircraft of her putative ally.

Falklands 12 June 1982, HMS Glamorgan (County Class DDG) hit by Exocet missile launched from land battery.