It's even than the numbers reveal. Allies lost 877,000 tons of shipping in the North Atlantic in Nov. 1942. The tonnage reflects the loss of 123 ships, or an average of about 7,100 tons per ship.
Today, the global merchant fleet is about 55,000 hulls with DWT of 2,135 M tons. Or about 39,000 ton average. That's 5X the tonnage per ship back in WWII. Even worse, a global average isn't a good indicator because the kinds of ships we would need to carry material and personnel. If we focus on the ships that have the tonnage to move the material we would need, the equivalent average becomes almost 60,000 tons per ship, or about 9.5X the tonnage per ship in WWII. Put another way, that 877,000 of lost tonnage in November 1942 would be carried by less than 20 ships today. The concentration of risk has increased enormously without concomitant risk mitigation measures (e.g. convoys.)
THIS is why the new USS Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigates are badly needed. To keep cost down a new smaller Small Surface Combatant Aegis Destroyer Escort [Guided Missile} is needed in numbers. Less expensive to build, and able to perform the Destroyer Escort mission will make it extremely valuable in the event of conflict particularly in the Greater Archipelagic Western Pacific AOR where it will not only escort, but also support Marines ashore.
The only remaining question is this: At what point does misfeasance in public office reach the level of malfeasance, or even willful intent?
It's even than the numbers reveal. Allies lost 877,000 tons of shipping in the North Atlantic in Nov. 1942. The tonnage reflects the loss of 123 ships, or an average of about 7,100 tons per ship.
Today, the global merchant fleet is about 55,000 hulls with DWT of 2,135 M tons. Or about 39,000 ton average. That's 5X the tonnage per ship back in WWII. Even worse, a global average isn't a good indicator because the kinds of ships we would need to carry material and personnel. If we focus on the ships that have the tonnage to move the material we would need, the equivalent average becomes almost 60,000 tons per ship, or about 9.5X the tonnage per ship in WWII. Put another way, that 877,000 of lost tonnage in November 1942 would be carried by less than 20 ships today. The concentration of risk has increased enormously without concomitant risk mitigation measures (e.g. convoys.)
THIS is why the new USS Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigates are badly needed. To keep cost down a new smaller Small Surface Combatant Aegis Destroyer Escort [Guided Missile} is needed in numbers. Less expensive to build, and able to perform the Destroyer Escort mission will make it extremely valuable in the event of conflict particularly in the Greater Archipelagic Western Pacific AOR where it will not only escort, but also support Marines ashore.