Stardate 20010913.0657 (On Screen): The extent to which coincidence or luck influences the outcome of war should not be underestimated. One of the few good aspects of the Pearl Harbor attack was that the US carriers were all at sea at the time and thus were not targets of the attack, which then concentrated on the battleships. And now the US has had another small piece of good fortune with its carriers, though nothing like as dramatic. On Monday
USS Carl Vinson replaced
USS Enterprise on duty in the Gulf.
Enterprise was going to leave the area but after the attack it was ordered to stay there. If it's not already off the coast of Pakistan, it could easily be there in just a few hours. The exact sea speed of those carriers is classified but they're capable of at least 40 knots, which is really cooking for an object that size. And a carrier like that doesn't sail alone; it's part of a task force which includes cruisers and destroyers (and usually a couple of submarines) all of which will be equipped with missiles. While they don't ordinarily serve more than four months or so before returning to port, they are capable of necessary of serving nearly indefinitely.
Enterprise itself won't need to be refueled for years, and though it will need substantial supplies of jet fuel, that can easily be done at sea. (That is routine; the carrier only has about five days worth of jet fuel on board.) If President Bush orders an attack on Afghanistan, the
USS Enterprise task force will probably be involved.
(discuss)
