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M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

earthquake.usgs.gov

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Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#3

Post by jballanc »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #2

Apparently the US Navy does these semi-regularly to test the durability of warships

This is almost certainly what it was. Wiki even has a photo of the USS Gerald Ford undergoing blast tests off of Ponce Inlet, and mentions that it registered as a M3.9 quake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford#Operational...

If I had to guess, this is probably the USS John F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CVN-79)

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#4

Post by walrus01 »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #2

Apparently the US Navy does these semi-regularly to test the durability of warships

They also periodically use live munitions on decommissioned ships, sinking them, for the purposes of validating all sorts of stuff.

https://www.pacaf.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/452930...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(LPD-10)

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#5

Post by [deleted] »

jballanc wrote: post #3
Rebelgecko wrote: post #2

Apparently the US Navy does these semi-regularly to test the durability of warships

This is almost certainly what it was. Wiki even has a photo of the USS Gerald Ford undergoing blast tests off of Ponce Inlet, and mentions that it registered as a M3.9 quake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford#Operational... If I had to guess, this is probably the USS John F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CVN-79)

[deleted]

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#6

Post by bijowo1676 »

jballanc wrote: post #3
Rebelgecko wrote: post #2

Apparently the US Navy does these semi-regularly to test the durability of warships

This is almost certainly what it was. Wiki even has a photo of the USS Gerald Ford undergoing blast tests off of Ponce Inlet, and mentions that it registered as a M3.9 quake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford#Operational... If I had to guess, this is probably the USS John F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CVN-79)

I dont understand the purpose of using 40,000 lbs of TNT (0.2 kilotons) that registers as M3.9 quake - what kind of explosive payload is it simulating?

the only thing that comes to mind, is the smallest yield settings of a modern tactical nuke B61-12

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#7

Post by hankbond »

walrus01 wrote: post #4
Rebelgecko wrote: post #2

Apparently the US Navy does these semi-regularly to test the durability of warships

They also periodically use live munitions on decommissioned ships, sinking them, for the purposes of validating all sorts of stuff. https://www.pacaf.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/452930... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(LPD-10)

So, tactical ocean trash?

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#8

Post by walrus01 »

bijowo1676 wrote: post #6
jballanc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is almost certainly what it was. Wiki even has a photo of the USS Gerald Ford undergoing blast tests off of Ponce Inlet, and mentions that it registered as a M3.9 quake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford#Operational... If I had to guess, this is probably the USS John F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CVN-79)

I dont understand the purpose of using 40,000 lbs of TNT (0.2 kilotons) that registers as M3.9 quake - what kind of explosive payload is it simulating? the only thing that comes to mind, is the smallest yield settings of a modern tactical nuke B61-12

I would guess that they want to simulate a percentage of the shock force of a near miss or hit from a (russian, chinese, other equivalent-tech) torpedo or naval mine without actually risking rupturing the hull. So they need a much greater weight of explosives positioned a much further distance away than if they were to actually fire a torpedo at the ship.

Or for general shake and vibration and shock force testing of the entire ship, simulating a combat environment. Unlike the shake/rattle/hydraulic ram rigs which are used to qualify a new airliner design on a structural test article, there's no other way than lots of explosives to shake/vibrate an entire Nimitz, Ford class size aircraft carrier.

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#9

Post by rho138 »

hankbond wrote: post #7
walrus01 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also periodically use live munitions on decommissioned ships, sinking them, for the purposes of validating all sorts of stuff. https://www.pacaf.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/452930... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(LPD-10)

So, tactical ocean trash?

Almost every decom’d vessel that gets blown up for RIMPAC is turned into an artificial reef.

Re: M 3.9 Experimental Explosion – 147 Km ENE of Ponce Inlet, Florida

#10

Post by fwipsy »

bijowo1676 wrote: post #6
jballanc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is almost certainly what it was. Wiki even has a photo of the USS Gerald Ford undergoing blast tests off of Ponce Inlet, and mentions that it registered as a M3.9 quake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford#Operational... If I had to guess, this is probably the USS John F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CVN-79)

I dont understand the purpose of using 40,000 lbs of TNT (0.2 kilotons) that registers as M3.9 quake - what kind of explosive payload is it simulating? the only thing that comes to mind, is the smallest yield settings of a modern tactical nuke B61-12

Does it need to be the direct analog of any specific weapon, to be a useful test?
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