3 Big Questions…
That lead to more questions.
Last Week’s Questions Answered
Now that we have allies, can we trust them? Mexico – yes! Ole! Cuba – no. Booooooo.
What’s going on with Danny Green? Still don’t know, but remember that part last week when I said he wasn’t doing anything suicidal? Running into a minefield after Wolf during a gunfight probably qualifies as suicidal. I know he shot -some- mines. But it’s a minefield. The whole point is that they’re hidden!
Is Tom Chandler OK? Admiral Tom showed some impatience, and a little more aggression than usual, but he followed the advice of his officers and backed down. We got a couple more of those “fugue” moments, but overall, Tom held up just fine.
This Week’s Questions
Where the HECK did the bad guys get an Iowa Class Battleship?
As of today, only FOUR Iowa class battleships remain afloat: Missouri, Iowa, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Both Missouri and Iowa sit at anchor in basically the Pacific Ocean. I point this out because while not impossible, the effort it would take to bring either ship from Hawaii or San Francisco into the Gulf of Mexico would be pretty noticeable (especially if the bad guys used the Panama Canal). New Jersey lives offshore of Camden, New Jersey, while Wisconsin is currently at the Nauticus Maritime Museum in Norfolk, Virginia. You know, where the freaking Navy has been operating from for the whole show! I think everyone on-board would have thought of the Wisconsin right away if she came up missing one day. Really -any- battleship, which all four currently act as museums, going missing would cause quite a fuss and probably stand out in the heroes’ minds.
In my first article, I mentioned how awesome it would be for Chandler to ride up, King of the World-style on the bow of a battleship to save the day. Well, I wasn’t that descriptive, but I hope that’s how you imagined it when I wrote it. Anyway, some wires must have gotten crossed between my desires and the writers. Right ship, wrong side. Anyway, when I posted my flight of fancy regarding Tom getting a battleship operational and in the fight, I figured the US Navy with all its resources would -maybe- pull it off (using TV logic). This scenario, first stealing an Iowa class battleship (assuming in this TV world none were ever sold to a South American country for some reason), moving it to the bad guys’ “friendly” waters, and then refitting it, makes for a very dangerous adversary. But a -little- unbelievable in the execution. Since I like the show, I’m going to give it a chance to explain this in some way, but right now, I’m a little amazed at the audacity of this twist.
What is Kelsie’s connection to Tavo’s movement?
Last week, we learned the power (or at least the guiding hand) behind Tavo’s throne probably lies with his wife. This week, we saw everything Tavo yelled at his general about came from his wife’s desire to kill Tom Chandler. It was a little nuts watching Tavo this week, actually. It was like he didn’t even understand the symbolic importance of killing Chandler, but he really wanted his wife to quit nagging him about it.
Why do I bring up Mrs. Tavo? Somehow, I bet Kelsie (she’s listed as Ashley’s girlfriend on IMDB, so I’m guessing on spelling) is tied to Conchita (Tavo’s wife). I can’t really quantify it. Just a gut instinct saying that Kelsie reports to and is loyal to Conchita, rather than Tavo. Beyond some personal connection to Tavo or Conchita, I can only go with the standard reasons for sympathizing with the enemy here. Maybe she was raised in South America, or maybe one of her parents originated in South America…
People in Kelsie’s role (potential homegrown terrorist) don’t even necessarily need a reason that the rest of us would accept as sane. But then again, this is TV and that’s not very dramatic. She’s got to be connected to somebody.
What happens when Nathan James puts in for repairs?
Look, everybody. A living legend, another admiral, and a captain all currently crew the Nathan James. They split up their duties pretty well so far, but we did get a little stepping-on of toes this last episode between Tom and Kara. It’s awesome to see most of the old crew out there, beating back the enemy; I know it is. But I don’t think it can last, at least not all on the same ship. We know the president will try and get Tom to stay ashore (at least I think he will). We also know that Kara’s command of the James was only meant for a short tour for civilians and then turned over to someone else. This makes potential reassignment for either one of them very possible once they put in.
Any and all of them feel most effective at sea, but I’d argue that having them all together limits the potential of that effectiveness. I realize lousy communications and a lack of available ships presents a serious hurdle, but I think The Last Ship will need another ship she can trust out there with her. If we find even one more operational ship available during Nathan James’ repairs, I bet one of our top three officers takes that ship while the other two saddle up with the James again. If we find the cupboard bare, then, barring injury or compromised mental status, all three head back out to sea, stepping all over each other toes until the end of the series.
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1. The plague is supposed to have wiped out 80% of the US population – and I will give the show the benefit of the doubt and say that another 25% of the remainder died of other causes after the plague. That leaves 15% of the US population still alive – approximately 48 million people and a military consisting of about 315,000 personnel, with 64,000 naval personnel. Yet – if you would believe this show, the US military that is left seems more like one belonging to a country the size of Uruguay.
2. So after the plague, the navy might not have the personnel to operate its present 400 ship fleet, but they would easily be able to operate 50 – 60 ships, including some aircraft carriers with their most up-to date tactical fighters and several nuclear subs. The US would also still have most of its nuclear deterrent intact. It would easily retain its position as the most formidable military power in the world.
3. But not in the crazy world of “The Last Ship”. In the show, 5 vintage prop planes carrying a few bombs flying in completely unnoticed from Columbia somehow destroy 5 five modern US warships in Florida leaving the entire United States somehow defenseless. 5 ships. So – Why didn’t the military command just send down 5 more ships from their hundreds of reserve ships around the country? And why is Chandler, formerly a Commander, now practically running the entire Navy? What are the approximately 45 admirals that are still alive doing?
4. Next – Where did “Greater Columbia” pick up a fully functioning World War II battleship with 16″ guns? Nowhere – that’s where. It would be absolutely impossible. The show’s premise is that somehow a sneaky band of agents from Columbia with a complete knowledge of how to repair and operate a 70-year-old American battleship came to the US un-noticed, got on board one of the 4 remaining Iowa class battleships still in existence, fix and fuel all the engines and navigational equipment, find all the needed replacement parts and ordinance and sail it away. All this un-noticed and unreported by the people that run these museum ships.
I just feel that the writers on this show are performing a huge disservice to the men and women who make up the real and much, much more capable US armed forces than the “keystone Cop” military portrayed in the “Last Ship”.
All good points. I think the one thing that might skew the numbers might be the military perhaps having been used as first responders when the emergency started. This is a pretty common trope in post-apocalypse settings which always translates to such people (military, police, EMTs, etc.) being in substantially lower numbers. That doesn’t really address the 45 admirals, but the plague spread pretty easily if I recall.
On the military hardware part though – I definitely agree. Even if we all died, the ships would remain for a long while in degrading but somewhat usable condition. The show purports that the ships just aren’t even available in any way. That just seems crazy.
I’ve been researching battleships and this dramatic addition to the story is just super far-fetched. All the reasons you mentioned are good for the last American battleships. It turns out ours were the last battleships built and and the last decommissioned. No one else would have them just laying around, even as museums. Being that there are only 4 Iowa class battleships AND only 2 of them were supposed to be better maintained than the other 2 by congressional order, you’d think the 3 admirals in charge would know which one was missing (nevermind that the Iowa is on the wrong side of the continent…)
Thanks for writing in!