Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 3:13:27-3:17:39

A task group of famously survivable warships

A playful force-selection question becomes a survey of ships that survived mines, bombs, kamikazes, and repeated loss of their bows.

HMS WarspiteShip DamageTribal Class Destroyers (1936)USS LaffeyWorld War II
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Question

Which historical ships belong in a task group selected for the strongest 'plot armor'?

Short answer

Warspite, several Tribal-class destroyers, USS Laffey, and other ships with exceptional damage-survival records lead the list.

Notes

The panel begins with Warspite and the famously damage-resistant Tribal-class destroyers Eskimo, Nubian, and Ashanti, then adds USS Laffey, Illustrious, Formidable, Texas, Yukikaze, and other candidates. Several choices survived missing bows, massed kamikaze attacks, bombs, or repeated torpedo damage. Saratoga is jokingly assigned the role of attracting torpedoes away from the rest of the force. Their choices are grounded in specific damage histories and offer a compact route into the reputations that grew around unusually durable ships.