Tarazed Aquilae
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Posted - 2006.10.18 18:23:00 -
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Back in the (real world) old days, battleships were the ultimate naval unit. With their heavy guns and incredibly thick armor they were capable of simply brushing any lesser ship aside.
The problem was that battleships were hideously expensive. No nation could afford to build more than a handful and many smaller nations would risk financial ruin if they tried to build even one battleship. This made a battleship into a weapon that the admirals were unwilling to risk lightly. (Sound familiar.)
And there was a new weapon, the torpedo. A single torpedo hit probably wouldnĘt sink a battleship, but it would cause damage. and that damage might take months, or even years, to repair. Multiple torpedoes could easily sink a battleship too.
So, some nations began to experiment with the torpedo boat. This was a cheap, fast, and easy to build boat which could launch a few torpedoes. These boats werenĘt usually capable of staying with a fleet on the high seas. But they could operate in costal areas, hiding near the shore, and rushing out to attack any battleship that got close.
These cheap and easy to replace boats could potentially sink battleships that cost a fortune and took years to manufacture. Obviously something needed to be done about this. And the Torpedo Boat Destroyer was born.
A Torpedo Boat Destroyer was a ship that was big enough to keep up with the fleet and small enough to steam into coastal areas. It had small guns that were just big enough to wreck a torpedo boat. Soon these ships simply became known as destroyers.
Destroyers didnĘt have the firepower to take on a cruiser, much less a battleship. They didnĘt have the armor to survive a cruisers guns either. But against a wave of torpedo boats or small craft they would be devastating.
That is the role destroyers play in Eve. They can quickly kill the frigates (torpedo boats) that can lock down and slowly kill battleships and cruisers. But they are a big target for battleships and donĘt have the armor cruisers do.
Back in real life, destroyers were given torpedoes so they could also attack the big ships. Then they were given depth charges and sonar to deal with the threat of submarines. When aircraft became a threat, destroyers were given anti aircraft guns. (And their main guns were given AA capability as well.) By WWII, destroyers had become the backbone of the Navy.
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