Theoretically, sinking a military vessel hears as an easy task... In action, it is way more difficult than it seems. These specially designed ships are built to survive a lot of 'wholes'. Let's see the five best ways to sink one of these vessels!
1. Aircraft
Aircraft were the most popular warships killers, at least since 1939. This started in 1940 when some British aircraft destroyed or damages 3 Italian warships in the Taranto harbor. The message was sent clearly when Japanese aircraft sunk 8 American ships in Pearl Harbor. And for those who hadn't conceived yet, the Japanese aircraft destroyed the flagships of the British fleet, the Prince of Wales, and the Repulse some days later.
Later one, it was the Japanese turn to see what aircraft means: the great Musah ships and Yamamoto were destroyers from American planes.
The biggest threat of warships will forever be aircraft. In World War II, Navies deployed in ships in areas that aircraft couldn't reach (due to their limited range). At least, they learned!
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2. Military Vessels
Military ships were built for sea dominance, that's why they were built to destroy other ships too. In Tsushima, the Russian warships were crashed by the better Japanese fleet. In Jutland, three British cruisers were bombed by German ships, while the American ships took their revenge for Pearl Harbor by sinking two Japanese warships in Surigao Strait in 1944.
3. Submarines
For warships, submarines are stealth killers. Military ships started becoming submarine's prays in the first World War. In December 2014, the British submarine sank the old Turkish ship Mesudiye. In May 1915, the ship HMS Majestic was sunk by the German U-21 boat.
Pretty much the same happened in World War II. After the 14th of October 1939, the German U-47 penetrated the British defenses in the naval base of Scapa Flow and launched torpedoes against the Royal Oak warship. On 21 November 1944, the Japanese warship of Kong was sunk from the USS Sealion submarine.
To be honest, today's ships are really hard to get hit by their once stealthiest killers. Today, important vessels like carriers are being protected from a few top-class destroyers.
4. Mines
Mines caused a lot of sinking in WWII. The greatest loss was the Russian warship Petropavlosk that was destroyed from a Japanese mine in April 1904 during the Russian-Japanese war. Admiral Stepan Makarov was among the casualties, a death that led to the destruction of the Russian fleet in Tsushima. Three ships from the Allies were destroyed from mines in 1915 while they were sailing to protect the Gallipoli campaign.
5. Accidents
As hard as it may sound, warships sometimes explode by themselves. The French Liberte was exploded in September 1911 after the denotation of faulty explosive material in the armory. The Japanese Mutsu was sunk in June 1943 from an explosion in the armory, too. Investigations revealed that it was sabotage from a crew member.
