Timeline for How would WW2-level navy deal with my "merfolk"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
30 events
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| Sep 15, 2021 at 19:24 | answer | added | Chuck | timeline score: 2 | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 17:45 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | Not one thing listed here would make even a scratch in a WWII era battleship, except maybe the Kaiju itself. And kaiju could not survive a hit from a battleship salvo. Hiding might work though. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 14:54 | comment | added | SpencerG♦ | In addition, they are massive, quick, and presumably more maneuverable than anything else humans have in the watter. Submarines are considerably slower. Kaiju could knock them around in the water. Depending on the hardness of their shells/carapace, the Kaiju have can ram ships and capsize them. They are about half the size of a WW2 carrier & just as fast. If a few Kaiju get together to harass a convoy of ships, they could ram & capsize ships by surfacing underneath them. Aircraft in these naval battles won't be as helpful either because of how close the Kaiju would be to the ships. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 14:45 | comment | added | SpencerG♦ | I think the biology of the kaiju is really what indicates how the merfolk are dealt with. A blue whale, by comparison, is around 85 feet long and can hear sonar. If it's similar to a whale, it can likely hear sonar and move to avoid detection easily. If they were similar to whales, these animals could be incredibly loud as well, so they could likely use their vocals as a concussive blast depending on how loud they get. Blue whales are already pretty loud, being able to get to 188db. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 14:18 | comment | added | GammaGames | Why not have the fish companions attach with a sucker and pump acid on to the steel directly, or something? Over time the acid could eat away the fish's "sucker," too. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 10:17 | answer | added | Confused Merlin | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 10:02 | comment | added | papirtiger | @JDługosz thats not how evolution works. Traits do not occur just because there is an evolutionary pressure such as predation. Rather its just lucky mutations together with the survival of the fittest that makes it so that certain traits become common. And often they actually outlive their usefulness like for example the seeds of advocados. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 9:39 | comment | added | pjc50 | A detail that might make this work: pre- and early-WW2 navies had significant difficulties fighting at night. If you give the merfolk better night vision they stand a chance with sneak attacks. But really this setting would work much better in the whaling era of the Age of Sail. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:38 | comment | added | Withadel | Lastly, what is the geography of this world? Is it similar to Earth, or is it an archipelago planet? | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:37 | comment | added | Withadel | Also, early 40s and late 50s were very different. They maybe just a few years apart, but many totally game-changing developments happened in those few years. Radar and sonar were very early technologies in the 40s and planes had propellers, while by late 50s you had ICBMs, nuclear subs and ships, jets, use of electronic computers, and many other things. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:34 | comment | added | Withadel | WW2 itself caused some very significant development to naval warfare. In your world, did a similar war happen as well? Or is it just that their technological level is the same, but their naval doctrine is more akin to pre-WW2 notions? I think this should be specified in the question. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:27 | comment | added | vsz | "For some reason, humans and merfolk didn't really encounter each other until this world's mankind reached 1940-1950s technology level" - does this mean they just got teleported in from another world? Otherwise there is no chance to not encounter each other: those kaiju need to eat a lot. They would have a profound effect on the biosphere. | |
| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:27 | history | edited | Khangodr | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 15, 2021 at 5:11 | answer | added | Withadel | timeline score: 2 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 23:21 | comment | added | JDługosz | How do they hide in the open sea? Why did they evolve the ability to corrode steel when they didn't have steel enemies during their evolution? | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 22:24 | answer | added | computercarguy | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 19:42 | answer | added | Boolean | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 16:57 | history | edited | Khangodr |
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| Sep 14, 2021 at 16:24 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Sep 14, 2021 at 16:07 | comment | added | GrumpyYoungMan | "The warriors, armed with various bladed weapons, ..." promptly get shot by the local police when they try to pillage a coastal town. It's unclear how they would carry away their loot anyway unless their kaiju surfaces, in which case en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_artillery is brought to bear. | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 16:04 | comment | added | Alexander | Real world acids, even the strongest ones, act slowly, and (as it is already pointed out in the answers) quickly dissipate in water. Should we take this as "magic acid", or "reality-check" or "science-based" tags are applicable for this question? | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 15:14 | answer | added | Trioxidane | timeline score: 8 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 12:21 | history | edited | Khangodr | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 14, 2021 at 9:36 | answer | added | Nepene Nep | timeline score: 9 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 8:58 | answer | added | Starfish Prime | timeline score: 29 | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 8:55 | review | Close votes | |||
| Sep 14, 2021 at 21:44 | |||||
| Sep 14, 2021 at 8:53 | history | edited | Khangodr | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 14, 2021 at 8:42 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | This question specifically asks about the action of a character and would be off-topic on this site. It would be very difficult to answer since you've not even specified the motivation (eradicate, tame, trade, capture, eat etc.). Please take our tour and have a read of our help center regarding our ways. Welcome to worldbuilding. | |
| S Sep 14, 2021 at 8:24 | review | First questions | |||
| Sep 14, 2021 at 8:53 | |||||
| S Sep 14, 2021 at 8:24 | history | asked | Khangodr | CC BY-SA 4.0 |