Reply #17: Right. [View All]

In re-reading my post I can see that people might misread it to refer to the Sheffield. When I spoke of just having to "repaint" her, I was talking about a battleship.

You are correct... but it isn't just that Aluminum burns... it's that it doesn't take a whole lot to severely damage an unarmored hull like that. An Exocet actually has an embarrassingly small warhead (around 350 lbs) but still packs a punch against an empty tin can.

Lastly, the damage-control training of the crew matters a great deal. The Stark was hit by two Exocets fired by Iraqi jets (Mirages IIRC) and handled it a bit better - though it was still evidence that armor has advantages.