FOG HORN

Guys, we haven’t had a shoot the shit in several weeks so I hope you haven’t resorted to therapy. What a year!

We are still dealing with the COVID-19 extravaganza, the evac from Afghanistan can only be described as a cluster-fuck of historic proportions, we are defunding police and replacing them with social workers and psychologist, the migrant border disaster, we pissed off the French with the Australian submarine deal and we find ourselves with a group of Congressional members who are more qualified to costar in a Jonny Wadd (went by numerous names) film but clearly not influencing policy. So, given the year to date events I had a difficult time deciding on an interesting shoot the shit topic.

DHS blew it, the only thing they needed to keep Haitian migrants from crossing the border was to play this and a couple of dead chickens with red ribbon around the neck

For those of you new to the site, a shoot the shit is a social interaction during which any topic can be discussed; participants don’t need to know anything about the subject under discussion, they are free to make any uninformed or unsupported comment, use uncensored profanity, insult anyone they wish or change the subject at any time. The efficacy of a shoot the shit is far superior to paying $150+ per hour to a jackass who majored in psychology so they could understand themselves. I’ll illustrate…

We are living in times where:

• We commute the death sentences of convicted murderers but insist on unrestricted abortion for women.
• We compensate criminals to not shoot victims instead of compensating potential victims for shooting criminals.
• Women are no longer the homo sapiens who menstruate, we now have menstruating persons.
• Pregnancy is no longer a female condition but I’ve yet to see an explanation on how semen travels from the asshole or oral cavity to an ovary.
• We now are advancing CRT, critical race theory, in our schools, which essentially teaches children you’re a racist prick but I’m ok all on the basis of their race.
• Last but not least young women are killing themselves because their bodies are not up to what they see on Instagram, TikTok or other sites. Apparently the problem is not limited to only those girls who need to raise their arms so people can tell whether they’re walking or rolling.

Do you still want to see a therapist?

Let’s talk submarines!

The Australian government entered into a $40 billion deal with France for submarines back in 2016. Apparently there were delays and cost overrun concerns that Australia communicated to Paris leading to the cancellation of the contract. Australia opted for U.S. made submarines. In response, France withdrew their ambassador from Canberra and Washington D.C. . That’s politics but did Australia make the best decision.

The submarines to be supplied by the French are diesel-electric boats, the ones being purchased from the United States are nuclear, was this a good decision? It depends as there are both pluses and minuses to each option.

A nuclear submarine does not require refueling, they can literally operate for years without refueling. That’s appealing until you realize that your crew can’t remain submerged for that period of time. Patrols have practical limits like food supply and mental health. Extended patrols create marital problems and you find yourself experiencing an erection every time you walk past the shower, all deleterious to good moral.

A nuclear submarine will also have a greater thermal signature even when submerged.

A nuclear submarine is capable of sustained high speeds submerged . You could see that as being highly desirable, but even with today’s high performance passive sonar, operating at speeds higher than 12 knots reduces the effectiveness of passive sonar and using active sonar will giveaway your presence, an undesirable situation in submarine operations; lastly, unless you can do more than 50 knots you’ll never outrun an antisubmarine weapon fired at you. High submerged speeds can also lead to cavitation and produce acoustic signatures that are easily detected. During the Cold War Period, Russian attack submarines had nearly twice the shaft horsepower as our boats but acoustically sounded like a freight train moving through the water. Passive sonar could easily detect and track them at a distances of 20,000 yards.

The diesel-electric submarine is generally smaller so crew size and equipment configurations are limited; they also have a more limited diving depth. A diesel-electric submarine runs on a bank of batteries charged by a diesel engine. Charging the batteries underway requires they run on the surface, or when submerged they’ll operate at 65 feet, or so, with a snorkel mast raised.

The photo shows a submerged diesel-electric submarine snorkeling. The mast on the left is a periscope the larger mast is the snorkel

A diesel-electric submarine running on batteries is quiet enough to approach and surface next to a surface craft undetected; inhere lies their beauty. A diesel-electric wolfpack running on battery can stalk, approach and engage an enemy fleet virtually undetected. The first indication of their presence would come after their aircraft carrier was sunk. Like a nuclear submarine, they can carry a variety of armaments.

When discussing submarine operations stealth trumps and there is not stealthier submarine that a diesel-electric boat. Their chief vulnerability comes from snorkeling to recharge batteries, they are ideally suited for delivering personnel into enemy coastal waters undetected, including harbors when needed.

I hope you found today’s shoot the shit informative, and that it will keep you from seeking therapy. Have a great weekend and schedule your own shoot the shit with your buds or family.