HFQ Official Snippet #17

For what its worth, I don't think there is anything in Earl Hanth, Admiral Hywyt, or Captain Bahrns personalities that would indicate for one second that they wouldn't create the biggest frigging boom that they could get away with. They seem like the kind of souls who are primarily concerned with "Getting sh*t done". I very much foresee using as much explosives as physically possible without jeopardizing the mission by being overloaded. And not an ounce less.


Overkill is under-appreciated.

Direwolf18 wrote:For what its worth, I don't think there is anything in Earl Hanth, Admiral Hywyt, or Captain Bahrns personalities that would indicate for one second that they wouldn't create the biggest frigging boom that they could get away with. They seem like the kind of souls who are primarily concerned with "Getting sh*t done". I very much foresee using as much explosives as physically possible without jeopardizing the mission by being overloaded. And not an ounce less.


Overkill is under-appreciated.

There is no such thing as overkill; there is only "open fire!" and "reload!". Something I heard once

While I'm sure they may have wanted to use as much explosive as possible, they will have been limited by certain factors - such as how much was available (if a new explosive), how much a person could safely carry/swim with/handle/set in this particular mission, and conserving supply (if a new explosive produced in small quantities).

Direwolf18 wrote:For what its worth, I don't think there is anything in Earl Hanth, Admiral Hywyt, or Captain Bahrns personalities that would indicate for one second that they wouldn't create the biggest frigging boom that they could get away with. They seem like the kind of souls who are primarily concerned with "Getting sh*t done". I very much foresee using as much explosives as physically possible without jeopardizing the mission by being overloaded. And not an ounce less.


Overkill is under-appreciated.

Chances are none of these august individuals had anything directly to do with choosing the size of the explosives. They just told their team: get rid of the bloody barges... and then turned it over to someone who actually knew what they were doing...although experts can occasionally be over rated.

Don

n7axw wrote:

Direwolf18 wrote:For what its worth, I don't think there is anything in Earl Hanth, Admiral Hywyt, or Captain Bahrns personalities that would indicate for one second that they wouldn't create the biggest frigging boom that they could get away with. They seem like the kind of souls who are primarily concerned with "Getting sh*t done". I very much foresee using as much explosives as physically possible without jeopardizing the mission by being overloaded. And not an ounce less.


Overkill is under-appreciated.

Chances are none of these august individuals had anything directly to do with choosing the size of the explosives. They just told their team: get rid of the bloody barges... and then turned it over to someone who actually knew what they were doing...although experts can occasionally be over rated.

Don

And none of the individuals in the entire chain of command are members of the inner circle, so they can't query OWL on the proper amounts to use - If they are really using some of the new explosives instead of black powder, yeah, they'll overdo it.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

And none of the individuals in the entire chain of command are members of the inner circle, so they can't query OWL on the proper amounts to use - If they are really using some of the new explosives instead of black powder, yeah, they'll overdo it.

Just as there was testing of the new corned powder, bagged charges, and trunnions in Charis prior to their first use in anger, I'm sure that the new explosives saw testing.

~Tonto

Tonto Silerheels wrote:fallsfromtrees wrote:

And none of the individuals in the entire chain of command are members of the inner circle, so they can't query OWL on the proper amounts to use - If they are really using some of the new explosives instead of black powder, yeah, they'll overdo it.

Just as there was testing of the new corned powder, bagged charges, and trunnions in Charis prior to their first use in anger, I'm sure that the new explosives saw testing.

~Tonto

And how many of the testers made it into the field? The grunts on the ground are going to use their black powder standards, regardless of what they are told.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

Tonto Silerheels wrote:fallsfromtrees wrote:

And none of the individuals in the entire chain of command are members of the inner circle, so they can't query OWL on the proper amounts to use - If they are really using some of the new explosives instead of black powder, yeah, they'll overdo it.

Just as there was testing of the new corned powder, bagged charges, and trunnions in Charis prior to their first use in anger, I'm sure that the new explosives saw testing.

~Tonto

And how many of the testers made it into the field? The grunts on the ground are going to use their black powder standards, regardless of what they are told.

"What is this new stuff? It can't really be as good as black powder, can it? Let's be safe. Choose what you'd use with black powder, and double it."

"We don't get two chances. Double your planned charges."

Readers will perhaps recall the first Hanford breeder reactors. The Chemical Engineer appointed to check all the calculations looked at the safety margins, and substantially increased the size of the piles. He was right, too.

phillies, did they increase the amount of material to soak up the neutrons?

n7axw wrote:...although experts can occasionally be over rated.

Don

Consider the etymology of "Expert".

"Ex" as in "former" or "has been"
"Spurt" as in "drip under pressure"

NEVER trust "Experts"

6L6 wrote:phillies, did they increase the amount of material to soak up the neutrons?

The size was increased by iirc a third. As a result, they did not lose all power when the expected fission products started poisoning them.