U.S. Navy’s 2005 SINKEX (Sinking Exercise) on the decommissioned supercarrier USS America (CV-66). This remains one of the most significant and still largely classified live-fire tests ever conducted on a modern aircraft carrier.
The 2005 live fire tests show that US aircraft carriers can take dozens of 250-500 kg bombs to top decks without sinking and more than one torpedoes or cruise missiles.
The Kitty Hawk-class USS America took weeks of deliberate explosive testing in 2005 before it could be scuttled.
New US air craft carriers have more armor with higher quality steel. They have 2.5″ (64 mm) Kevlar spall liners over all critical areas.
Nimitz has the hangar divided into three fully independent fire bays separated by thick steel doors (a direct lesson from Franklin). Thousands of watertight compartments. Reactors, magazines, and engineering spaces are widely separated and deeply buried. Double-hull construction in key areas. Redundant propulsion, power, and firefighting mains.
They have automated AFFF foam (fire suppression), water mist, rapid dewatering pumps, remote monitoring, portable systems. Ford’s automation further reduces crew exposure.
Fuel/ordnance handling — Modern jet fuel is far less volatile than WWII avgas.
Probably needs over four torpedoes or cruise missiles. One or two into each of the major sections and at the waterline or below.
April 19, 2005: Towed from the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia.
Late April – May 14, 2005: ~4 weeks (exactly 25 days at sea) of progressive live-fire testing.
May 14, 2005 (~11:30 AM EDT): Final controlled scuttling.
The ship was packed with thousands of sensors and cameras. Tests were conducted from remote vessels while monitoring in real time.
Main focus was underwater explosions (simulating torpedoes, mines, and near-hull detonations at the waterline). There were above-water attacks. Bombs and missiles dropped/launched onto the flight deck and superstructure. There werec controlled internal charges, placed at key points inside the hull.
Late in WW2, the USS Franklin survived two armor piercing 550 pound bombs that also set off internal ammo explosions and fires. The Franklin did not sink.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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