It is time, once again, for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.
First, some sad news. Nathan Okun, probably the world's greatest expert on battleship armor and penetration, passed away back in January. His work is mostly up at Navweaps, although be warned that it's quite dry. I met him once when he came to visit Iowa, and he was rather bemused at how excited I was to meet him. Later, he checked over Armor Part 2. He will be missed.
Second, one last request for people to come to the meetup. It should be a lot of fun. Current attendee list:
- Bean and Lord Nelson
- Sam Chevre
- Hunter
- Ian Argent
- John Schilling
- Usea2b
- smd
- 2 Friedmans
- Shas'Ui + 1
Overhauls are Auxiliaries Part 5, NWAS Polaris Part 3, Nuclear Weapon Destructiveness, and for 2023, Cruiser-Killers and The Cod Wars.
Comments
Is there any word on the best hotel to stay at for the meetup?
Sorry I can't make the meetup, it's a bit far from Australia.
According to the news there's a US Navy/Army mission underway to build a pier in Gaza for humanitarian supplies. The ships are expected to arrive in 5/6 weeks or so.
Looking at this from the outside, seriously? I'm sure the US gov means well, but Gaza is filled with people who know where the F-35s, F-16s, and AH-64s flying over their homes came from. I can't see the US military showing up "we come in peace" and not getting shot at. (And just up the coast are Hezbollah, who also take shots at shipping with ASMs and ATGMs.)
My prediction is that 1. the Israelis call off their offensive, the US gov announces that the emergency is over and the ships turn around and go home; or 2. the US gov announces that some kind of "credible threat" has been detected and the ships turn around and go home.
Nathan Okun was one of the greats in naval research. Used to enjoy bouncing around on his page, so much stuff to look at.
Greatly missed.